Endangered Fish Find Renewed Home In The Missouri

April 27, 2008

Release from: Bill Graham
KansasCity.com

The endangered pallid sturgeon is turning up more frequently in the Missouri River at Kansas City.

Missouri Department of Conservation sampling crews caught nine pallids here this winter — one wild, five hatchery-stocked and three still under study — resource scientist Darby Niswonger said.

The fish are weighed, measured and released.

Department crews also sampled the Kansas River and in March caught five lake sturgeon that originally were stocked in the Missouri. Lake sturgeon can be 6 feet long and weigh 200 pounds, although biologists are uncertain if they’ll grow that large here.