Lake sturgeon once lived in the waters of the dinosaurs. But more recently, it’s been nearly two decades since Riveredge Nature Center began its rehabilitation program to bring the fish back to the Milwaukee River – itself a massive rehabilitation project.
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Riveredge has raised nearly 21,000 sturgeon at its Saukville rearing station since 2006 and released them into the river, according to Mary Holleback, the center’s citizen science manager.
The latest class of fish graduates will matriculate into the river at Sturgeon Fest, part of Milwaukee’s Harbor Fest on Sept. 29. Festivalgoers who sponsor their own sturgeon can release one of the fish into its new life in the wild.
Riveredge’s effort has been fueled by the dedication of the rearing station’s staff, Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources and 140 volunteers – three of whom have lent time for the entirety of the program.
Around 30 volunteers are needed annually to help run the facility, with tasks ranging from preparing food to cleaning tanks. While Riveredge requires volunteers to be at least 18, sometimes younger nature-loving teens volunteer with parents.
Working closely alongside Holleback and volunteers is DNR fisheries biologist Aaron Schiller, who joined the project in 2019. “It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child,” Holleback says. “We have said the same thing about raising sturgeon.”
