This Presque Isle vista is named after the Sturgeon fish that were plentiful in Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes in the 1800s. The vista is located at the 4th parking lot on your right as you enter the park. It was common that the Sturgeon in Lake Erie to reach a length exceeding six feet. They have been known to weigh one hundred twenty pounds or more. For many years, people considered them a virtually useless fish.
Lake Sturgeon
Sometime around 1860, Americans began to recognize the value of caviar (Sturgeon Eggs) and the superior taste of smoked Sturgeon. By 1885, the annual harvest of the fish from Lake Erie was approximately five million pounds.
The shallow waters off Presque Isle were perfect habitat for the fish which need water from between twenty and thirty feet in depth. A caviar processing plant was built around 1868 on Presque Isle and was located near today’s Ranger Station.
The bay area here was known, not affectionately, as the stink-hole. The processing of fish left thousands of dead fish to be discarded. The environmental regulation at the time was non-existent, so their carcasses were just dumped into the bat to rot or be eaten by animals or other fish.
The massive over-fishing of surgeon almost eliminated the population of this fish in the bay and lake. Today, the Surgeon is on the threatened and endangered list of Pennsylvania and Federal fish. If you have not seen, “Mysteries of the Great Lakes” a large-format film about the Great Lakes and an effort to rebuild the Surgeon population, be sure you take the time to do so at The Tom Ridge Environmental Center.
What happened to the windmill and will it be fixed?
We watched the sand being unloaded and it was fascinating. We have a couple pictures. How is the large ship stabilized with the “arm” reaching out so far over land? Is the sand for next spring? Where did the sand come from? We also saw the dredge coming in. Is that sand used on PI?
Barb
The wind mill blades just went flying away in the very high winds of two weeks ago. They found two of the blades but one is still missing. Most likely down in the small valley.
The sand comes from Canada and Ohio and is great Lake Erie sand. The ship has a system that shoifts its balance as it unloads. Most sand will be used in the sring, but some will be used yo repair areas this fall. With the problems at the new turtle obsservation platform, I am sure some will go there.
You’ve got it in one. Couldn’t have put it beettr.