Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
WADE KING
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and MARK HENCKEL
Billings Gazette Outdoor Editor
Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish begins its 2003 program for students this week. That makes us ask, "What's in a fish name?"
For the 16 classrooms signed up 2003, it's a way to personalize a fish - a blue sucker, paddlefish, pallid sturgeon or shovelnose sturgeon implanted with a radio transmitter on the stretch of the Missouri River between Fort Peck Dam in Montana and Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota.
It's a way to spark interest by getting to know that fish better, see where it goes and learn more about all these native fish species that call the Missouri River home.
For Mrs. Ryti's second grade at Terry, that's a paddlefish named King Bignose. For Mrs. Plant's fourth grade at Glasgow, it's a shovelnose sturgeon named Beanie. For Ms. Bue's fifth and sixth grade at Reed Point, it's a blue sucker named Flounder. And for Miss Rutz's fourth grade in Hartland, Wis., it's a pallid sturgeon named Jaws.
Even biologists name fish. The pallid sturgeon implanted with radios on the Missouri River were named by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service alphabetically by the year in which they were first trapped and spawned.
In 2000, it was the A's - Annie and Andrew. In 2001, it was the B's - Butch and Ben. No fish were trapped in 2002, so there will be no C's. Fish trapped this year will be named with D names.
Right now, biologists from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are watching the river and getting ready to start finding their fish. There's still ice on the river in parts of the stretch between Fort Peck Dam and Lake Sakakawea, but spring is definitely beginning to show itself with warmer, windier days and ice sheets that are starting to melt.
Radio telemetry barges to track fish movements are ready to be launched and put in place for the year. Biologists are also hoping to get out in boats on the river next week to see what they can find. They're excited to see how far fish have traveled and see what part of the river system the fish are using as they prepare for their spring spawning runs.
Missouri River will be posting weekly updates in the Outdoors section of The Billings Gazette every Thursday through April and May. You can also see animated maps of fish movements on our Web site and learn a lot more about the river and the fish there. Classrooms can still sign up and adopt fish of their own, as well.
On the Internet, anyone can go to www.walleyesunlimited.com and click on the Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish button to learn more about it.
Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish is a cooperative effort of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Billings Gazette and Walleyes Unlimited of Montana. Best of all, it's free.