The Iowa Department of Natural Resources discovered two pallid sturgeon for the first time in the lower Des Moines River earlier this year. The ancient fish is considered one of the rarest and most endangered species in North America.
Mark Flammang, an Iowa DNR fisheries management biologist, said pallid sturgeon are not well documented in the Upper Mississippi River above St. Louis, let alone in the Des Moines River.
“The bottom line is, this is very encouraging. We’re very excited by this, but it’s not the end of the road per se,” Flammang said. “There’s a lot of work that has to be done.”…