A 9-foot-6 inch sturgeon weighing in at 500 pounds was found pinned Thursday in a radial gate at the Keno Dam in Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The fish had sustained a head injury at some point and was dead when officials found it.
“It’s thought the female sturgeon was from the original transplant group,” ODFW said in a Facebook post. “Most of those fish would be from 60 to 70 years old now, with the potential to live nearly 100 years.”
It is believed to have been one of 221 sturgeons moved in 1958 from the Columbia River to Klamath County. At the time, officials were attempting to create fisheries in the area. However, the fish didn’t take, and officials found no evidence that they were able to spawn in their new homes.
District fish biologist Bill Tinniswood said the fish, a female sturgeon, had millions of eggs upon her death. Officials believe that the lack of available male sturgeons to spawn with left the eggs to build up.
Two anglers have reported seeing sturgeons on the Upper Klamath Lake this year, Tinniswood said.