Martin Hummel, an associate professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, joined FOX Weather to share some interesting news about the future of fish.
Jim Falls, Wisconsin – Biologists are in awe after discovering a sturgeon that traveled an astonishing 651 miles down the Mississippi River system from Wisconsin to the Missouri border.
The fish's impressive journey is now recorded as the longest known distance traveled by a Chippewa River lake sturgeon, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“Wow, what an amazing trip,” the agency posted on Facebook, along with a photo of two Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries biologists who witnessed the encounter.
Two fisheries biologists from the Missouri Department of Conservation witnessed the sturgeon encounter.
(Caleb Johnson, Missouri Department of Conservation)
This sturgeon with a Wisconsin floe tag was found at Lock 26 Dam on the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois. The sturgeon was tagged in the Chippewa River near Jim Falls, Wisconsin, according to Wisconsin biologists.
Wildlife officials said the fish had been tagged at least 10 years ago, and possibly as many as 25 years ago, based on the color of Floy's tag.
“Although it is difficult to age old, slow-growing fish, our best estimate is that this 56.9-inch-long male lake sturgeon is probably around 30 years old,” the agency added.
According to Wisconsin wildlife officials, sturgeon can overcome multiple obstacles during their journey, including crossing three dams on the Chippewa River and passing through 22 locks and dams on the Mississippi River. It was completed.
“Given that the fish was likely too large to fit through the Chippewa River dam's trash can, it would have needed to pass through the dam's spillway gate during high water,” officials said. “In the Chippewa River, a variety of fish species, including sturgeon, have been recorded passing through dams and migrating downstream. The Mississippi River's locks and dams are used during times of high water and when ships pass through the locks. Fish can pass through.”
The sturgeon was then captured with a sound transmitter and returned to the Mississippi River. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said it could someday return to the Chippewa River. If so, the agency's acoustic transceiver will detect it.
Check it out: Man fishing for catfish in Missouri hooks a 4-foot prehistoric fish instead
Lake sturgeon fish.
(USFWS)
Lake sturgeon are not endangered
The benthic freshwater fish native to Wisconsin is a living fossil that first appeared about 136 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, and like many modern fish, it has changed little since then.
For years past, fishermen have had mixed feelings about this fish. In the 19th century, they were seen as interfering with and destroying fishing nets. As a result, they are often killed and left to rot on beaches, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
However, in the 20th century, fishermen began to value sturgeon for their meat and eggs, and began harvesting them in large quantities.
In addition to sturgeon, the state is also home to the shovelnose sturgeon, both of which have been severely affected by overfishing, river fragmentation and habitat change, state wildlife officials said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday finished reviewing a request to classify the lake sturgeon as an endangered species. They concluded that it does not currently meet the criteria to be considered an endangered species.
