GLIN==> A Big Fish Story

[Elizabeth LaPorte <elzblap@mail.umich.edu>]

Title: A Big Fish Story

ON THE COVER: A big fish story

April 27, 2006

BY PATRICIA CHARGOT

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Detroit Free Press

Loch Ness, in Scotland, has Nessie, an aquatic beastie whose existence has never been proved.

But the Great Lakes have something even better: a monster fish -- and it's real. That fish is the lake sturgeon, an ancient species so large and long-lived that the early Native Americans believed it had a special spirit.

Michigan Sea Grant's Jennifer Read directed the project, in collaboration with USGS, USFWS, JJR and others. Sea Grant developed the exhibit at the Detroit Science Center, as well as a web site. For more information, see the Sturgeon Web site at http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/sturgeon/sturgeon_exhibit.html.  The site includes information about the exhibit, the history of Lake Sturgeon and a sturgeon quiz.

See Giants in the River, a half-hour documentary on history of human interaction with Lake Sturgeon in the Detroit River and restoration efforts Sunday, April 30, 6:00 PM on WTVS, Channel 56, Detroit Public Television.

For the complete story in the Detroit Free Press - Yak's Corner, see http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060427/YAK01/604270339/1073/YAK

The Sturgeon project is supported through a Great Lakes Coastal Restoration Grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality/NOAA and a matching grant from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust.  Additional support is provided by DTE Energy.

-- 

Elizabeth LaPorte

Fisheries Learning on the Web: www.miseagrant.umich.edu/flow

Michigan Sea Grant College Program

Communications Director & Education Co-Leader

Phone: (734) 647-0767

Address: 401 E. Liberty St., Suite 330, Ann Arbor, MI  48104-2298