The Paddlefish is a large fish native to the Mississippi river. The Paddlefish has a long body and has a paddle looking snout, small eyes that are set forward, and a shark-like tail. The Paddlefish has no scales except for those on its throat, pectoral girdle, and tail fin. This large fish can grow up to 2.2 m (7.3 ft) and can weigh over 23 kg (50 lbs); "historically, paddlefish have been reported to be over 91kg (200 lbs)." Paddlefish live in the open waters of large rivers and river lakes, like lake St. Croix, oxbow lakes, and backwaters. Paddlefish eat Zooplankton, so they need waters that are rich in this organism, paddlefish also require free-flowing rivers with gravel bars that are flooded in spring for breeding purposes. Male paddlefish mature at 7-9 years of age, females, 9-12 years. Access to breeding grounds is more important for the paddlefish because they do not breed every year because each fish has a lifespan of over 20 years; the female paddlefish grows larger …show more content…
"The ability of paddlefish to pass through dams and move freely between spawning and non-spawning habitats will be critical for their population recovery." That being said, there are efforts that can be made in Minnesota to try to conserve the paddlefish and recover the population; this includes, removal or retrofitting of dams with fish passage features, such as ladders or lifts, including dams on the Mississippi river from Minneapolis to the Iowa border and the Minnesota river from Granite Falls to Big Stone