Summit Metro Parks joins partners in reintroduction effort on September 19
Summit Metro Parks will join the effort to once again release lake sturgeon into the Cuyahoga River by hosting a Sturgeon Release Celebration. The Sturgeon Release Celebration will be held Saturday, September 19 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Valley View Area of Cascade Valley Metro Park (1134 Cuyahoga St., Akron).
At the celebration, visitors will have the opportunity to take turns releasing juvenile lake sturgeon into the Cuyahoga River and learn about the ongoing efforts to restore the Cuyahoga River watershed. While the event is free and open to the public, registration to release a sturgeon is required to ensure a great experience for all visitors. One ticket is equal to one sturgeon released. Families and groups are encouraged to register together, with up to four people per ticket, to release a sturgeon as a group as the number of fish is limited. Registration is available online at summitmetroparks.org/program-events/sturgeon-release-celebration/ and begins on August 1.
The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) is a prehistoric species with a shark-like tail and bony plate-armored covering. Typically, adult lake sturgeon are about 4-6 feet long, weigh 30-80 pounds and live to be 50-100 years old. Lake sturgeon once roamed freely in the Cuyahoga River and other tributaries feeding Lake Erie. But, by the 1900s, a combination of over-fishing, pollution, damming of rivers and habitat loss caused lake sturgeon to disappear from the system. Their numbers dwindled drastically across the Great Lakes region, making their comeback a conservation priority. The reintroduction initiative is led by Ohio Division of Wildlife and is possible thanks to several important habitat improvements, including the removal of the Brecksville Dam and water quality improvement over the decades.
The effort is a collaboration between Summit Metro Parks, Ohio Division of Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Cleveland Metroparks, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, U.S. Geological Survey and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
Established in 1921, Summit Metro Parks has been Your Back Yard for more than 100 years. The park district manages more than 16,000 acres throughout 16 parks, two nature centers, one visitors center and over 150 miles of trails, including 22 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Learn more at summitmetroparks.org