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The pallid sturgeon has long lived in the Missouri River, and has been designated as an endangered species by the government since the 1990s.
After spending millions of years in the Missouri River,the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicesays the species declined in the 1960s due to changes made to the river by humans, including dam construction and channelization. Jacobsonsays changing the flow of the river made it easier for barges to travel and expanded nearby agriculture, but suspects that also threatened reproduction among pallid sturgeon.
Experts are considering several explanations as to why. One currently stands out.
“Because this navigation channel is so efficient it’s designed to transport sand the dominant hypothesis is that it s also too efficient for those larval fish to get out of the main current,” Jacobson said. “They re getting stuck in the main channel and being transported way downstream, they can t get off to the side of the channel when they need to