Some fish swimming in the Great Lakes could be upward of 400 years old, new study finds

Instead, they did some math using 44 years of data on five different populations of lake sturgeon. “Simply stated, we used this data to estimate lake sturgeon longevity by asking ‘If a lake sturgeon grows X centimeters per year, then how many years does it take for a lake sturgeon to get to a particular size?’” Baker noted that less than one percent of the historic population of over two million lake sturgeon remain in the Great Lakes. The fish was tagged and released ( USFWS )Lake sturgeon mature later than other fish and females may not reproduce until they are 15-25 years old. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year after Endangered Species Act protections were denied for lake sturgeon in 2024.