Written by Addison Middleton

50 miles North of Chattanooga, a thumb-sized anomaly swims between the rocks and moss of the small streams on Walden Ridge. To the unknown eye, these fish, known as the Laurel Dace, could easily be overlooked or mistaken for any other small freshwater fish that is found in East Tennessee. The rarity of the fish doesn’t come only from their size and characteristics, but the extremely specific area they are found. Since their discovery in the 1950s, the Laurel Dace have only been found in one location in the world, Walden Ridge. 

The limited environment the Laurel Dace inhabit causes an extremely small population to begin with. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially listed the Laurel Dace as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). From first discovery, this species was found in only nine streams at Walden Ridge, but over the past 25 years, that number has shrunk drastically.  Over several decades, because of continued agriculture, dry seasons, and increased sedimentation, the Laurel Dace are now only seen having a healthy population in Bumbee Creek on Walden Ridge.

Once the fish were recognized as critically endangered, the Tennessee Aquarium and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) stepped in and began their preservation efforts. Over time, the TNACI continued to keep a close eye on the Laurel Dace by studying their environments and behaviors. Several rescues have been conducted where teams would go to Bumbee Creek and take several fish into their care for further monitoring and research. Through their ongoing observations in the wild, the TNACI was also able to take fast action to save the Laurel Dace when circumstances became drastic.

“Over the past 10 years, we have been very closely involved with Laurel Dace Conservation. We’ve done status surveys, habitat studies, and studied their behaviors. We’ve also brought them here into our care to try to understand how to spawn them, just in case the need ever arose. Unfortunately, last Fall in 2024, the need did arise,” said Dr. Anna George, the Vice President of Conservation and Education at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Dr. George serves as a leading member of the Laurel Dace conservation team and has been a part of the journey since the first rescue. During an extended drought in the summer of 2024, it was feared that the Laurel Dace could be moments away from full extinction without the help of human intervention. That July, the TNACI took action and travelled several times to the home of the species to begin an emergency relocation. Dr. George explained how, as the dry season continued, the conservation became more drastic.

“When I talk about the drought, we’re talking about a creek that’s normally free-flowing with water, and instead, there were just puddles. It was stagnant, algae-filled puddles, and honestly, we’re not sure how the Laurel Dace were even surviving given how bad the conditions were on the ground.” 

The emergency relocation became a life-saving success for the Laurel Dace. By September, the TNACI was confident that they had relocated every single Laurel Dace that they could catch into their care. The fish were kept in the TNACI facility until they could ensure the creeks would be an inhabitable and thriving environment for the fish again. 

At the end of September in 2024, Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina and East Tennessee, causing an excess of rainfall, allowing for the creeks on Walden Ridge to fill once again. Although conditions were improving, the Laurel Dace were kept in the TNACI’s care over the Winter season to guarantee the creek’s condition would continue to stay steady and flowing. After consistent weather patterns, the decision was made to conduct the first Laurel Dace release in March of 2025.

“That was a really fun day. It’s always great when you get to release an endangered species, but particularly when you’ve been safeguarding them. We were out there with several partners two different weeks in a row,” Dr. George says. She explains that, “We chose the time we did because March is before the Spring spawning event happens, so we wanted the fish to have about a month in order to stabilize back in the river and get their bearings again before they had to start on respawning.”

Around 50 adult Laurel Dace are still kept at the TNACI facility for observations and have had notable success during the spawning season while in human care. Around 200 baby fish join the population after this spring’s spawning season. 

Although the Laurel Dace has seen immense improvement over the past year, conservation and awareness remain at the forefront of several minds. With recent surveys showing that population numbers continue to grow, TNACI seems hopeful for the future of these small but mighty fish. The Laurel Dace shows that although small in size and numbers, they share a big story about the importance of conservation and the role each of us can play in protecting the wildlife that lives in our own backyards, without sometimes even knowing it.

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A Second Chance for Sturgeon

Written by Sydney Banks

Out of seven species of sturgeon in North America, three call Tennessee home: the pallid, the shovelnose, and the lake sturgeon. Of these, the lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) carries the most complicated history with the Southeast’s rivers, and perhaps, the most powerful lesson for the region’s future. 

By the 1960s, the Jurassic-era descendants, which can grow up to eight feet in length, weigh 300 pounds, and have a lifespan of 150 years, had nearly vanished from the Coosa, Tennessee, and Cumberland river systems. Unregulated dam operations by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) released oxygen-depleted water and disrupted natural flows, toxic chemicals from water treatment plants clouded waterways, and commercial fisheries stripped remaining populations for their meat and caviar, valued for its nutritional quality, taste, and historical significance. 

But the 1990s marked a turning point before their story could end. The Clean Water Act of 1972 began clearing toxins from the rivers, and TVA corrected past missteps with its Reservoir Release Improvement program. This reformed water management and improved oxygen levels across dam sites, while the “endangered” status of the lake sturgeon kept fishing at bay. With protections in place, Tennessee’s waters were finally suitable for sturgeon. The state contacted the Wild Rose Hatchery in Wisconsin, which graciously donated 50,000 eggs. Together, TVA and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency stocked them above the Norris Reservoir, marking a brand new beginning for the species. 

Feeling the smooth, slimy skin and bumpy plates of lake sturgeon is an experience Tennessee Aquarium visitors know well. But the Aquarium’s relationship with the species extends far beyond display. 

In 1998, the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) joined the sturgeon’s stirring narrative with other partners in the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group. In 2000, TNACI released the first batch of reared lake sturgeon. Since then, the program has worked to raise and return the species to its native rivers. 

In TNACI rearing tanks, small sucker-mouthed fish glide through the tanks like shooting stars, tilting their snouts to the water’s surface as beams of sunlight stream through high windows. Biologists are carefully tending to these juvenile sturgeon in preparation for their release on October 23, 2025. 

“You just can’t stock fish and walk away. You have to make sure that the habitat has recovered, the reasons why they disappeared have been addressed, and monitor not only that they lived a year, but that they reproduced and the offspring that they created made it to adulthood,” said Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, a reintroduction biologist for the TNACI. For biologists, evidence of independent reproduction is a waiting game. In the meantime, fish are tagged and monitored to track reproduction and movement in the Tennessee River, following nature’s undisclosed timeline. 

Though the future of sturgeon reproduction is unclear, the undertaking of successful habitat restoration proves what’s possible through the intersection of science, policy, and the public. 

“Every community, every person, every operation, every construction of new buildings and new roads is potentially an impact on the Tennessee River. How did we all get together and improve the quality of the Tennessee River? It seems overwhelming, but we did it,” Kuhajda said. 

The return of the sturgeon to their home can’t be simply celebrated and forgotten. Their comeback story could be a blueprint for other endangered species, such as the Laurel Dace. 

“Everyone gets excited about a seven-foot, 100-year-old fish,” said Kuhajda. “Not everyone gets excited about a three-inch, three-year-old fish. There’s Western blacknose dace, there’s Tennessee dace, there’s a whole bunch of minnows all around. Why should I care about this one?” 

Kuhajda argues that the difference lies in public impact. Coaxing the success of conservation efforts for any species is a combination of fascination and passion. 

“If the public does not have an awareness of all the cool stuff under the surface of the water, they’re not going to go to our state and federal politicians to help protect our unique things in Tennessee,” Kuhajda said. 

Restoration of a species takes time, awareness, and cooperation—qualities the effort for the laurel dace will need if the fish is to one day reclaim its streams. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and it is an uphill battle. And if I weren’t an eternal optimist, I would give it up long ago,” said Kuhajda. “But you can spark the imagination of anyone from four to 80 if you talk about all the cool natural stuff we have all around us in the correct way. Get rid of the scientific jargon and don’t talk with any politics. Be truly excited. That’s the best way to do outreach.”

The Lake Sturgeon’s return is an emblem of possibility. Connection, passion, and persistence ensured that a story of loss could be rewritten. With a bit of help from a large community, hope can be found for fish both big and small. 

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