In the late ’90s, the Aquarium and partnering organizations and agencies joined forces to restore a native river giant, the Lake Sturgeon, after its decades-long absence from the Tennessee River. Recently, more than 2,000 baby sturgeon arrived at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, just in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of when the first Lake Sturgeon raised by the Aquarium and its partners were released into the river.
To date, the Aquarium and its partners have released more than 425,000 of these giants-in-waiting into the Tennessee River and Cumberland River. Hopes are running high that there soon will be signs that this ancient, long-lived fish has established a self-sustaining population in these native waterways.
