BLACKFOOT, Idaho — A nearly 5-foot long sturgeon was rescued from a canal by Idaho Fish and Game Wednesday in Blackfoot.
The fish likely came from the Snake River, working its way up the lateral canal until it was trapped due to low water levels, according to Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG).
IDFG personnel from the Southeast Region and Upper Snake Region found the sturgeon swimming with more than a third of its body above the shallow water.
Fish and game captured the sturgeon and transported it back to the Snake River in a water-filled tank inside a vehicle.
The Snake, lower Salmon and Kootenai rivers feature large populations of white sturgeons. The fish favor large rivers with opportunities for a life at the bottom, according to IDFG.
A video of the sturgeon rescue from the canal in Blackfoot is included below, courtesy of IDFG's YouTube channel:
Several hundred first year-class sturgeon reared at the Niagara Springs hatchery were released into the Snake River in early-June. Several hundred were stocked in four Magic Valley locations of the Snake River.
Staff from the hatchery stocked approximately 100 fish at Bell Rapids, Thousand Springs, and Niagara Springs Creek, and 50 fish in Relish Beach.
IDFG said the early-June stock was the second one-year old sturgeon release from the Niagara Springs hatchery. The first release occurred in April where IDFG released the fish in several Snake River sites in southwestern Idaho.
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