Researchers Aim to Reestablish an Ancient Fish in an Ohio River

The sturgeon restoration study’s outcome won’t be known for decades.

Written byShawna Williams

| 5 min read

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ABOVE: This juvenile sturgeon has been implanted with a microchip that will help researchers identify the fish if it swims back to the river it grew up in.
TOLEDO ZOO & AQUARIUM

One warm Saturday morning in October, people streamed down a hill to a boat launch on the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio, to take part in a historic event. Adorned with “I love sturgeon” stickers courtesy of the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, some gathered under a tent on one side of an adjacent parking lot to hear local dignitaries commemorate the occasion, while others visited a line of educational booths. But most took their place in a queue, dozens of people long, that curved between the two. This was the line to sponsor a fish.

The piscine stars of the event, young lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) measuring about seven inches long, were part of an effort to reintroduce a ...

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Meet the Author

Shawna Williams
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Shawna was an editor at The Scientist from 2017 through 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado College and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Previously, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, and in the communications offices of several academic research institutions. As news director, Shawna assigned and edited news, opinion, and in-depth feature articles for the website on all aspects of the life sciences. She is based in central Washington State, and is a member of the Northwest Science Writers Association and the National Association of Science Writers.
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