MDC

Sturgeon

Missouri is home to three species of sturgeon: shovelnose, a river sturgeon that is common in our big rivers, and two other species that are rare and considered endangered--the lake sturgeon and pallid sturgeon (another type of river sturgeon). You may harvest shovelnose, but lake and pallid sturgeons are protected and must be returned to the water unharmed if captured. Biologists are studying these fish, and they need information and sightings you have on them.

Commercial Shovelnose Fishing Restricted

In a nationwide effort to protect declining populations of the federally endangered pallid sturgeon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) ruled in early October 2010 that shovelnose sturgeon must be treated as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because of their similarity in appearance to the pallid sturgeon.

Endangered Lake and Pallid Sturgeons

Although sturgeon are masters of survival, they can’t compete against overharvest and habitat loss. In just the last 100 years, humans have driven lake and pallid sturgeon nearly to the brink of extinction. But Big River stakeholders are cooperating to secure the future of Missouri's aquatic dinosaurs.

Missouri's Aquatic Dinosaurs

Sturgeon evolved more than 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Era when dinosaurs roamed the earth. These primitive fish have survived continental shifts and ice ages. Now, contemporary overharvest and habitat loss threaten their existence.