MENOMINEE, MI (NBC 26) — We returned to the Hattie Street Dam in Menominee to witness an annual tour of the sturgeon passage project.
- The project moves sturgeon upriver to their natural spawning location, which was previously blocked by the dam
- Officials say the project is going well, with 1800 sturgeon transported in its nine years, but it's too early to tell if there is a significant impact on the population of the ancient fish
- The project is a collaboration between Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin River Alliance, United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Michigan Hydro Licensing Commission
- Video shows guests getting splashed by sturgeon, and a special sturgeon elevator moving fish through the dam
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
We're in Menominee, Michigan, and these are 60-inch lake sturgeon — and this dam is trying to preserve this prehistoric species.
"Oh!" "Sarah Sinegal says as a sturgeon makes a big splash. "Big girl got big sister!"
Some in the splash zone got more up close and personal than they might've liked, as they got to know the friendly — and ancient — fish.
Sinegal brought her nephew Emerson to see them for the first time.
"They don't bite," she told him.
"People are often impressed by the size," Michigan DNR fisheries biologist Darren Kramer said. "They're often impressed by the features of the fish."
Visitors on Thursday's tour got to see how the Hattie Street Dam moves the sturgeon up a special fish elevator, so they can get to their natural spawning location.
Kramer says the project has moved 1,800 sturgeon in nine years.
"We're putting the sturgeon into habitat where their young can survive," he said. "That's really what we're trying to do. So those young then, as long as they survive, can migrate back out to Lake Michigan."
The dam owners and federal grants raised more than $6 million for the project, with the goal of boosting sturgeon population in Lake Michigan and beyond.
"Do we value having these creatures here and keep them for our children, our grandchildren, to see it?" said Andy Yates, lead dam operator for Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. "I think that the answer to that is yes."
And Thursday, kids like Emerson met the fish — and conquered some fears.
"You're not scared no more, are you?" Sarah asked.
"Nope!"
The sturgeon passage is a multigenerational project, so officials say it may take a few more years or decades to see some true results.
