At approximately 9 am on Wednesday, June 29, Idaho Department of Fish and Game personnel from both the Southeast and Upper Snake Regions responded to reports of a sturgeon trapped in a canal in Blackfoot.
When personnel arrived, the sturgeon was swimming with at least a third of its body above the water. Fish and Game was able to capture the nearly 5-foot long fish from the waterway and transport it via a water-filled tank in a vehicle to the nearby Snake River.
It is likely that the sturgeon had simply worked its way up this lateral canal from the Snake River and found itself trapped by lowering water levels in the canal.
White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are the largest freshwater fish in North America. Historically, sturgeon up to 1,500 pounds were caught by anglers. They can live to be over 100 years old!
White sturgeon are creatures of large rivers-- such as the Snake, lower Salmon, and Kootenai Rivers of Idaho-- and are uniquely adapted for life on the bottom. Torpedo-shaped bodies help them swim effortlessly in brisk river currents, and their small eyes are adapted for the dark, deep pools where they live. Sensitive whiskers help them identify food items in the dark water, and their suction-tube mouths easily vacuum up whatever food they come across.
For more information about this unique fish, visit https://idfg.idaho.gov/fish/sturgeon.