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Prefaces
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n vii PREFACES Prefaces NANCY AUER It was September 2007. Dave and I were both at an evening reception in the Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Technological University. Dave was the guest of honor and had just addressed a public and academic audience on his latest book, which was about the Great Lakes. His passion for the Lakes quickly became obvious. During the reception, I was introduced as the sturgeon biologist at MTU to Dave and he commented that his next idea for a Great Lakes book was one covering the lake sturgeon. Now my father used to say that I had a rubber face and could hide no emotion, but that night I hoped I had done a reasonable job at hiding my surprise, for my dream was to publish a book on lake sturgeon. I wanted some way to broaden and improve public understanding of and “liking” for this magnificent species, which I had studied for over 20 years. This was a pivotal moment for me, as until then I had found little time to move beyond a dream; writing takes time. I recall standing for a moment looking at Dave and saying to myself: Speak up, or forever you will lose an opportunity. So I shared with him my similar desire to publish a book and gain some viii n Prefaces ground on preserving this great fish. To my surprise he suggested we put our heads together, and that very night he sent me an email with his proposed outline; I still have that email and remain ever grateful Dave said yes to a joint effort. Our intention with this text is to provide the reader with some history, biology and ecology, and human perspective, as well as suggest some future management ideas. Chapters included in this volume span stories from individuals who are relatively new to appreciating this largest of freshwater fish to those who speak for people whose lives and culture have been intertwined with lake sturgeon for decades or longer. The range of views runs from those who regard the sturgeon as a commercial species to those who wish to carve out a place for the species where it can live out a more natural existence like the wolves and moose of Isle Royale. Lake sturgeons are endemic to North America, so we have included authors from both the United States and Canada. The chapters are meant to allow readers to discover the inner beauty and mystery of a truly magical fish, one not often encountered or observed, one that some are striving to protect in a sustainable future. Caring for our natural resources takes relationship and respect, which can only be built when we understand how organisms and ecosystems are inextricably linked. We hope you will join us in that journey as you read through these chapters and grow to experience this marvelous fish. DAVE DEMPSEY Despite being a native of the Great Lakes Basin and working in the field of Great Lakes policy for a quarter century, I rarely gave thought to the lake sturgeon until the last 5 to 10 years. Fisheries didn’t escape my attention—salmon, lake trout, muskie, perch, and other species were impossible to ignore in the realm of policy. These are the sport of the great freshwater fisheries, these are the moneymakers, and these are the source of social and political controversy. And beginning in 1988, with the discovery of zebra mussels, invasive aquatic species vexed all of us who worked on, or cared about Great Lakes fish. But where was the sturgeon—so large and ancient, yet so invisible to me? My inattention was tantamount to a marine mammal policymaker overlooking whales. This personal fact is humbling for me to contemplate—and another illustration of the reason the lake sturgeon has had to claw back from near extinction in the last century. Right in front of us but sometimes left out of our policies and our hearts, [44.205.3.18] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 09:19 GMT) Prefaces n ix the sturgeon is what it has always so magnificently been—it is we who are changing, by learning to appreciate it. That does not mean we will all appreciate it in the same way. Some will study it scientifically, some will incorporate it into their aboriginal lifeways as has been done for centuries, some will simply care for it, while others will want to harvest them sustainably. The sturgeon may...