The Paddlefish

 Paddlefish

         The paddlefish is native to the Mississippi River basin, requiring large expanses of free-flowing river in which to complete its life cycle. Throughout its range, the paddlefish has experienced declines in abundance and distribution (Becker 1983). In Minnesota, paddlefish historically occurred in the Minnesota River to Granite Falls, in the Mississippi River to St. Anthony Falls, and in the St. Croix River to Taylors Falls (Cox 1897). Today, Minnesota's paddlefish are limited to small populations in the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers, including Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin (Hatch et al. in preparation), with occasional reports from other waters. For example, in the early 1990s there were 2 angling reports of this species from the Minnesota River at Mankato and St. Peter. Minnesota DNR fisheries crews sampled a paddlefish in May 2004 near Granite Falls, an exceptional reappearance of this species. The paddlefish's decline

The paddlefish has a long, paddle-like snout, small eyes that are set far forward, and a shark-like tail. It is blueblack or gray in color on the back, and white below. Its body is scaleless except for small patches of scales on the throat, pectoral girdle, and caudal (tail) fin. Small, paired barbels are present on the under surface of the paddle near the mouth. As adults, paddlefish reach a maximum size of 2.2 m (7.3 ft.) in total length and can weigh over 23 kg (50 lbs) (Page and Burr 1991). Historically, paddlefish have been reported to be over 91 kg (200 lbs.). A more recent record of a paddlefish taken from the lower Chippewa River in western Wisconsin in 1998 measured 1.8 m (5.9 ft.) long and weighed 39.4 kg (86.9 lbs.).