...experienced changes extreme as to threaten its survival. In century's time, habitat destruction, pollution, dams, changes in river flows, over-fishing, the caviar trade, and hybridization in the Missouri River basin drove the pallid sturgeon to the brink of extinction.

The pallid sturgeon's life characteristics--a long life and slow growth--may contribute to its decline. This fish grows to a size of more than five feet (1.5 meters) and 80 pounds (36 kilograms), and it lives beyond 60 years. But maturity comes slow; it takes females a decade to ripen, and even under ideal conditions, spawning is sporadic and infrequent, perhaps every other year.

The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the pallid sturgeon as an endangered species in 1990. Since then, natural resource agencies, governments and citizens from Louisiana to Montana have joined forces to recover this ancient fish. The Neosho National Fish Hatchery in Missouri is one of six federal and state hatcheries raising pallid sturgeon for stocking into the Missouri River.

Only in its fifth year of raising pallid sturgeon, Neosho NFH continues to increase its production from wild-caught fish, both by refining...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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