VCU researcher spots rare sturgeon in James River
Friday - 9/28/2012, 12:35pm ET
RICHMOND, Va. - A Virginia Commonwealth University researcher says he's spotted a rare Atlantic sturgeon in the James River in Richmond.
VCU researcher Matt Balazik saw the 6-foot-long sturgeon near the Mayo Bridge on Thursday.
Balazik, who sports a sturgeon tattoo on his right forearm, says he plans to check the area again this weekend to see if the fish are possibly spawning in the river.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch ( http://bit.ly/Uy5kFa) reports sturgeons were once plentiful in the river but were fished nearly to extinction for their caviar more than a century ago.
Earlier this year the National Marine Fisheries Service declared the Atlantic sturgeon an endangered species.
About 20,000 adult females inhabited the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries before 1890.
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com
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