“We did find out that it is a more robust fishery than we thought,” said Joe Thiessen, regional fisheries biologist and lead on the study. “There’s a lot of fish there. We did find out that growth rates were higher than what we’ve seen in our more wild, historic sturgeon populations, say in like Hell’s Canyon, and in and below Bliss Dam. That’s encouraging to see that they’re growing fast.”

Sturgeon can live to be more than 100 years old, grow to 10 to 12 feet long, weigh more than 200 pounds and don’t spawn until they’re 20 years old. For those reasons – and because Snake River sturgeon have been blocked from migrating to traditional spawning areas by dams – sturgeon fishing in Idaho is catch-and-release only with specific gear regulations to protect the fish. It is illegal to remove a sturgeon from the water.