Monstrous fish that can grow to 8 feet released into Cuyahoga River. Here's why

These fish are monsters. They can grow to 8 feet long and weigh as much as 300 pounds or more. Decades ago, they were abundant in the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie.

Now, a conservation partnership is looking to return the endangered lake sturgeon to those waters. Here's what they're doing.

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Pilot program releases lake sturgeon into Cuyahoga River

In the fall of 2025, a conservation group will begin stocking 1,500 lake sturgeon, according to a Facebook post from the Division of Wildlife . The group includes the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cleveland Metroparks, Summit Metro Parks, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and the US Geological Survey

Last week, the group released 60 juvenile sturgeon into the Cuyahoga River. Implanted with trackers, the fish are part of a pilot program to evaluate their movement and survival. That data will be used to decide where to release sturgeon next year.

🐟 The Cuyahoga River is one step closer to lake sturgeon reintroduction! 🙌⭐ Working together as a large conservation...

Posted by Ohio Division of Wildlife on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

In its own Facebook post , the Cuyahoga Valley National Park reported that the sturgeon were released from three sites along the Cuyahoga, including the Boston Store river access just north of Peninsula in Summit County.

With luck, the young sturgeon will return as adults to the Cuyahoga River to spawn, the park's Facebook post continues.

Decades ago, few would have believed this day would ever come. The dream became a reality this morning when 60 young...

Posted by Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

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What is a sturgeon? All about the Lake Erie fish, an endangered species

Lake sturgeon are found in large bodies of water with connections to smaller streams, which they need to spawn, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources . Lacking the scales typical of most fish, lake sturgeon have course skin and bony body plates covering their back, sides and belly. They can live 150 years.

Adult sturgeon usually measure between 4 and 6 feet in length and weigh between 50 and 100 pounds. They can reach 8 feet and over 300 pounds, according to ODNR. Ohio's record sturgeon, caught in 1929, weighed 216 pounds.

Historically, they were abundant in Lake Erie and would travel the Cuyahoga River to spawn, according to the National Parks Service . They were also common in the Ohio River, per ODNR, and would travel the Scioto River as far upstream as Columbus. Now, there are still a small number in Lake Erie, but sturgeon haven't been spotted in the Ohio River since 1971.

They spawn in May or June in fast-flowing rivers or over lake shoals with clean cobble, according to ODNR. Females reach sexual maturity between the ages of 20 and 25 and carry 4,000 to 5,000 eggs per pound of body weight. Individual sturgeon spawn once every four to seven years.

Lake sturgeon a 'monumental milestone in the recovery of the Cuyahoga River'

In its Facebook post, the Division of Wildlife called the reintroduction of sturgeon "a monumental milestone in the recovery of the Cuyahoga River."

The Cuyahoga is infamous as the river that caught fire when, after decades of pollution, a pile of oil-soaked logs and other debris floating in the watch ignited in June 1969, according to the National Park Service . And the river had caught fire at least a dozen times before that, Smithsonian Magazine reports .

The fire gained international attention, most notably through an article in Time Magazine in August of that year, and added fuel to an environmental movement that was already gaining traction in the United States.

Today, the Cuyahoga River's ecosystem supports a vast array of wildlife. Dams are being removed to improve the health of the river. Bald eagles have returned and can be seen nesting in the national park .

See a sturgeon? Report it

If you spot a sturgeon, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources wants to know. ODNR has a tool to submit a report on its site for lake sturgeon .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Monstrous fish that can grow to 8 feet released into Cuyahoga River. Here's why