Twenty-one young lake sturgeon released into the Illinois River at Starved Rock are now part of a long-term effort to learn more about the endangered fish and eventually rebuild self-sustaining populations in Illinois.
The 8-inch sturgeon were transferred by the Illinois DNR to the Quad Cities Clean Energy Center’s fish hatchery near Cordova in late 2025. By their release this spring, they had nearly doubled in size, averaging 16 inches.
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