Bring Back the Sturgeons

There is a group of fish that swims in Missouri’s rivers that has the tail of a shark, whiskers like a catfish, and mouth like a sucker. These fish are called sturgeons. 

Sturgeons are a primitive group of fish that has been around for millions of years. The first true sturgeons are believed to have emerged around 100 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous Period. 

Today, there are 27 species in the world, with eight species in North America. The three species that are found in Missouri are shovelnose, pallid, and lake sturgeons.

Some sturgeon species rank amongst the largest freshwater fish in the world. The white sturgeon, found in Pacific coastal rivers of North America, reaches a length of about 20 feet, with a weight of nearly 2,000 pounds. 

Missouri’s sturgeons are not that massive, but our lake sturgeon may still reach an impressive 8 feet long and more than 200 pounds during its 150-year lifespan.

Sturgeons prefer larger rivers with silty or sandy bottoms and are extremely migratory fish. They can travel hundreds of miles each year on spawning migrations. In Missouri, sturgeons can be found in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and the larger rivers that connect to them. Sturgeons are long-lived and have a slow reproductive rate. It takes many years for female sturgeons to reach reproductive maturity, and then they often spawn only once between two and 10 years, depending on the species. This slow growth and late maturity make sturgeons especially vulnerable to overharvest for their meat as well as for their eggs, which is used for caviar.

The construction of dams and other changes of river channels have destroyed much of the spawning and rearing habitat sturgeons need. This, along with overfishing, has contributed to the decline in the number of sturgeons. The lake sturgeon is listed as an endangered fish in Missouri, and the pallid sturgeon is listed as federally endangered. While our shovelnose sturgeon is not listed as endangered, it does have regulations that prevent its commercial harvest in parts of the state.

Saving the Sturgeons

Shovelnose Sturgeon

Shovelnose sturgeons are designated as a game and a commercial fish in Missouri. Commercially, anglers pursue shovelnose sturgeons for their eggs, or roe, to make caviar, which is highly valued compared to most other commercial fish species.

During 2009–2010, MDC staff assessed shovelnose sturgeon populations to help guide management decisions. Due to shovelnose sturgeon populations appearing very similar to the federally endangered pallid sturgeon, in 2010 the commercial harvest of shovelnose sturgeons was prohibited where the two species coexist by the Endangered Species Act. In Missouri, commercial harvest of shovelnose sturgeons is now limited to the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis (Pools 26, 25, 24, 22, 21, and 20).

In 2024, a multi-year study began to assess shovelnose sturgeon populations in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. MDC scientist Joe McMullen studies Missouri’s big rivers fisheries and is involved with the shovelnose sturgeon study.

“The project will compare populations of shovelnose sturgeon where commercial harvest still occurs to those that have been unfished for many years,” McMullen said.

He says to be on the lookout for fish that have been tagged as part of this study.

“Reporting tagged fish to an MDC office is important,” McMullen said.

If you catch a tagged fish, take note of the following information:

• Date and location of catch
• Full tag ID
• Length of fish
• Harvested or released

Some fish have also received a telemetry tag that is implanted into the body cavity of the fish to monitor their movement and migration.   

“At the conclusion of the population assessment, we will evaluate the need for regulation changes to maintain healthy shovelnose sturgeon populations statewide and sustainable commercial fisheries on the upper Mississippi River into the future,” McMullen said.

Pallid Sturgeon

Pallid sturgeons are listed as an endangered species federally and on the state level. Therefore, it is not a game fish and if caught must be released immediately unharmed. Once a commercially fished species, overharvest and the construction of dams and habitat loss have reduced their numbers to dangerously low levels. Another threat to their survival is hybridization with the more common shovelnose sturgeon.

MDC has a long history of working with pallid sturgeons. In 1992, MDC’s Blind Pony Hatchery was the first hatchery to successfully spawn pallid sturgeons. To date, MDC has stocked over 480,000 pallid sturgeon. 

Since 2005, MDC has been working with other state agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program. MDC’s field station has conducted annual sampling for over 25 years. Adam McDaniel, Kasey Whiteman, and Megan Ryba are part of MDC’s Missouri River and Biometrics Unit that participates in this pallid sturgeon effort. 

McDaniel, an aquatic scientist, says some of the tools used for monitoring this rare species include trotline sampling for juveniles and adults; benthic trawling for very young sturgeon, which is similar to how shrimp are captured by pulling nets across the river bottom; and acoustic telemetry to track movement and habitat use of juveniles and adults and identify spawning locations.

“Annual sampling shows that there are still some wild adult pallid sturgeon surviving in the river system, and that larval pallid sturgeons can drift over 800 miles before settling out,” said Whiteman, Science Unit supervisor. “Current pallid sturgeon populations are stable, but there is not enough natural reproduction for a self-sustaining population, which is the ultimate goal of recovery. Little to no captures of wild pallid sturgeon, age 1 or 2, indicate that there is a bottleneck in fish growing to this age.”

As part of this effort, adult pallid sturgeons are captured and transported to USFWS Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota. They are spawned in the hatchery and raised until they reach a year old. Then they are stocked throughout the lower Missouri River to supplement and conserve genetic diversity in the population. 

“Survival rates of hatchery-raised pallid sturgeon released at age 1 is quite high; however, it takes over a decade or more for those fish to become reproductive,” said McDaniel.

Lake Sturgeon

Despite their name, lake sturgeons are almost always found in Missouri’s big rivers. While not federally listed as endangered, the species is listed as either threatened or endangered in 19 of the 20 states within the fish’s original U.S. range, including Missouri.

MDC’s fisheries management staff have focused on habitat restoration in Missouri, which has proven to be a success.

Through cooperative efforts with USACE, lake sturgeons have spawned at Mel Price Lock and Dam on the Mississippi River for four consecutive years. Fisheries Biologist Sarah Peper has worked to telemetry-tag and track lake sturgeons at the site, while USACE has modified flows to encourage the spawning. 

MDC hatchery staff have relied on the USFWS hatchery system for decades to provide Missouri with fertilized lake sturgeon eggs and fingerlings that are ready to be stocked.

Forty years after the first hatchery-reared lake sturgeon stocking efforts in Missouri, MDC staff began collecting reproductively mature adults to gather and fertilize eggs, rear the hatchlings, and stock the fingerlings back into their natural habitats.

“In April 2025, we crossed a historic milestone,” said Fisheries Biologist Travis Moore, who works closely with lake sturgeons. “For the first time ever, MDC staff collected wild broodstock and successfully spawned them at Blind Pony Hatchery. The fry were raised at Lost Valley Hatchery and the USFWS’s Neosho National Fish Hatchery and stocked this fall.”   

Kurt Hentschke, manager at Hunnewell Hatchery, says this is a team effort. 

“Blind Pony and Hunnewell Hatchery staff worked together to spawn these fish at Blind Pony Hatchery,” Hentschke said. “The fish were then raised to a larger size at Lost Valley Hatchery.”

Lost Valley Hatchery plays a key role in rearing these fish due to the cooler temperatures they require.

Rearing to a size greater than 6 inches is done solely at Lost Valley Hatchery,” said Drew Burdick, hatchery manager. “This is an incredible achievement thanks to the collaboration between several state and federal agencies and other partnering organizations.”

MDC is also working to develop better ways to feed these fish in the hatcheries. 

“We are conducting feed studies to try transitioning lake sturgeon to a cheaper, easier to acquire commercial fish food like what is used for other species,” said Nathan Storts, manager at Blind Pony Hatchery. “Currently they are raised on a diet of live brine shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, and blood worms, which is very expensive.”

Lake sturgeons are becoming an incredible species recovery story in Missouri thanks to multiple generations of professionals dedicating their careers to management of this species. 

What to Do if You Catch a Sturgeon?

Proper identification is key to determining what should be done with any sturgeon you catch. Shovelnose sturgeons are the only sturgeons allowed to be harvested in Missouri and regulations apply. Pallid and lake sturgeons are protected and must be immediately released unharmed.

Report any tagged fish you catch by calling the phone number on the tag or your local MDC regional office.

Sturgeons are an ancient group of fish and with proper study, management, and fishing regulations, they will hopefully be around for generations to come.

Andrew Branson has been with MDC since 2005 and now works out of the headquarters in Jefferson City. He knows Missouri is a great place to fish and enjoys spending his free time doing just that.