Idaho Fish and Game says recreators may continue to see fish mortality downstream of the Quagga Mussel treatment area
“I would like to encourage the public, if you find a sturgeon while you’re out there recreating, hunting, fishing, or trapping, to reach out to the department, here at the office in Jerome.”
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Idaho State Department of Agriculture finished its Quagga Mussel Treatment last Friday on the Snake River, but Idaho Fish and Games says members of the community may continue to see fish mortality further downriver.
Mike Peterson the Regional Fisheries Manager said the sturgeon mortality they have sampled have been hatchery fish released in the last seven to eight years, and they have not seen sturgeon mortality from older naturally produced sturgeon.
Peterson said over the next few weeks they will continue to evaluate the age of the sturgeon that have died and the location they were released.
He added as people are on the river downstream of the current closure, they may see dead sturgeon that have floated down from the treatment area.
“I would like to encourage the public, if you find a sturgeon while you’re out there recreating, hunting, fishing, or trapping, to reach out to the department, here at the office in Jerome, and notify us where that fish was located,” said Peterson. “And we’ll go out and collect biological information from that.”
The Magic Valley Regional office is located at 324 South 417 East - Suite 1 in Jerome and their phone number is (208) 324-4359.
Peterson added in the future they may be able to translocate fish from lower downriver and potentially other locations to help re-build the population a little faster in the treatment area.
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