Prehistoric Fish Re-Entering Big Stone Lake
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Officials from South Dakota and Minnesota are working together to reintroduce thousands of lake sturgeon into Big Stone Lake.
Representatives from the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will be at Hartford Beach State Park in South Dakota on Thursday. They will release 4,000 tagged lake sturgeon fingerlings into the lake that straddles the two states.
Big Stone Lake historically had a wild lake sturgeon population but the last known of the prehistoric fish washed up on shore in 1946.
Officials say the five-inch fingerlings can eventually grow to be 300 pounds and can live for more than 100 years.
The two state agencies plan to stock 4,000 lake sturgeon per year into the lake for up to 20 years.
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