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Alcoa conducting study to determine how sturgeon use the lower seven miles of Grasse River

Posted 6/19/15

MASSENA -- As part of a Grasse River remediation project, Alcoa is conducting a study to determine how sturgeon use the lower seven miles of the river. Fisheries biologists and sturgeon experts are …

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Alcoa conducting study to determine how sturgeon use the lower seven miles of Grasse River

Posted

MASSENA -- As part of a Grasse River remediation project, Alcoa is conducting a study to determine how sturgeon use the lower seven miles of the river.

Fisheries biologists and sturgeon experts are conducting the study with oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state Department of Environmental Conservation and St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Environment Division, according to Alcoa spokesperson Laurie Marr.

Lake sturgeon, which can live more than 100 years, are a threatened species in New York. Results of the study will provide information about how sturgeon use the lower Grasse River so that it can be taken into consideration when designing the remediation project.

During the spring, fisheries biologists looked for evidence of sturgeon spawning from the shoreline, and collected water samples to look for any newly born sturgeon or sturgeon eggs that might have drifted into the lower Grasse River, Marr said.

The second phase of the study, currently underway, involves catching and tagging a adult sturgeon and monitoring their movements with tracking devices. These fish will be implanted with a tiny electronic device using what Marr describes as “an approved method.”

“Alcoa has obtained a permit from the DEC which allows some sturgeon to be caught and tagged as part of this study; otherwise it is illegal to handle or keep sturgeon,” Marr wrote.

Nets used to catch the sturgeon will be in placed in the lower Grasse River for about three weeks. They are marked with buoys, but boaters should be alert and use caution when navigating around them, Marr said.

Once tagged, the movements of the fish will be monitored using 10 telemetry antennas set up at various points along the lower Grasse River shoreline. This monitoring could take place for up to one year.

“The public’s cooperation is requested in not disturbing the telemetry stations,” Marr said. “They have been placed in precise positions necessary to track sturgeon movement in the river.”