(Des Moines) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced the first-ever collection of the federally endangered pallid sturgeon from the lower Des Moines River. The discovery of two pallid sturgeon this spring came a week apart during the Iowa DNR’s annual spring sturgeon sampling effort.
John Lorenzen, Fisheries Biologist with the DNR office in Lewis, said this sampling has been conducted since 2014, but until this year, only shovelnose sturgeon, and an occasional lake sturgeon, have been collected.
Pallid sturgeon, one of North America’s rarest fish, were listed as endangered in 1990 after steady population declines in the Missouri and lower Mississippi rivers. Habitat loss and dams blocking migration and altering flows hindered reproduction. While recovery efforts focus on the Missouri River, they have never been documented in the Des Moines River.
The Iowa Fishing Regulations includes images identifying characteristics for the lake sturgeon, the pallid sturgeon, and the shovelnose sturgeon. Pallid sturgeon have a smooth belly; its outer barbels are twice as long as the inner barbels; and the base of barbels is “U” shaped, with inner two set out in front. Of the three, only the shovelnose sturgeon may be kept – the lake and pallid sturgeon must be immediately released unharmed.
