December 8, 2025

You’ve heard of a fish fry before, but what about a ‘fish fly’? That’s exactly what commenced during this year’s Sturgeon Fest in Toledo, Ohio, as fish released by eager festival participants flew down a long, watery shoot into the city’s Maumee River.

The event is part of a larger effort by Toledo Zoo & Aquarium’s vertebrae conservation program, which aids not only sturgeon, but other aquatic creatures, too – including turtles and water snakes.

Trina Myers, Customer Account Specialist V, and Tyler Leggett, Senior Environmental Coordinator, represented FirstEnergy and the Toledo Edison Green Team at this year’s festival, where they helped release three sturgeons purchased by the Transmission Green Team to support the cause.

The sturgeons play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem for local lakes. As part of the project, every sturgeon set to be released is marked with a unique microchip, allowing for permanent identification of each individual fish. As the fish are caught or encountered in the future, scientists and fisherman can easily identify them by it.

Bringing fish back to Lake Erie

Each year, Toledo Zoo helps expand and keep fish numbers thriving throughout the Great Lakes by rearing new populations of sturgeons from eggs collected directly from robust repositories in Michigan’s Lake Saint Clair.

Attendees who sponsor a fish by purchasing a sturgeon tag at the festival are notified by zoo staff if their sponsored fish is recovered as part of ongoing monitoring efforts.