TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators said last week they will consider extending legal protections to lake sturgeon — prehistoric fish once abundant in the Great Lakes but reduced to dangerously low numbers by overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said an initial review had yielded "substantial information" on continuing threats to the sturgeon, justifying a more detailed study of whether they should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Designating the sturgeon as endangered or threatened could boost efforts to open more spawning areas, said Jessica Collier, a fish biologist with the service based in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
"Sturgeon live out in the lakes and migrate into rivers to reproduce," Collier said. "One of the biggest impediments to their recovery right now is that they don't have access to river habitat, usually because of blockades like dams."
More than 500 other species are waiting for similar investigations, meaning it could take years for the agency to reach a decision on the sturgeon.
Full stoy by John Flesher at Akron Legal News: http://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/27115
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