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Hatchery Hopes New Tanks Will Help Endangered Fish Breeding

Officials at a federal fish hatchery in southwest Missouri are hoping that new water tanks will provide a better breeding environment for endangered pallid sturgeon.

The Joplin Globe reports that the Neosho National Fish Hatchery recently received circular tanks that mimic the current in a river. Workers believe the tanks could increase reproduction for pallid sturgeons.

Bruce Hallman is an environmental education specialist with the hatchery, which is the oldest operating federal hatchery in the country. Hallman says pallid sturgeon have been endangered for almost 30 years. He says the species' natural home is the Missouri River and parts of the Mississippi River.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the population of pallid sturgeon has declined because of river channelization, dams and other changes that reduced its prey base and altered water temperatures.

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