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[Narration] In the great primordial rivers, 300 million
years ago, swam strange plankton-eating paddlefish. They were huge, over 150 pounds, over 6 feet
long.
[Man] Paddlefish...there he is...alright.
[Narration] They are still here, an ancient fish in a
modern world.
[Finley] They're a big fish and they're a really neat looking fish and so they spark
a lot of interest in the public.
[Narration] But in Texas, the plight of the paddlefish
is not good.
[Ronnie Pitman] The species has been on the earth 360 million years and has been able
to survive most other natural cataclysms, except the impacts that man has brought.
[Narration] Dams built throughout Texas cut off the paddlefish
from their natural spawning grounds, and heavy commercial fishing pressure left the paddlefish
up a creek.
[Pitman] The big money maker is in the roe for caviar,
paddlefish are a strong competitor for sturgeon.
[Narration] By the late 1970's, the paddlefish in Texas
had all but disappeared.
((Tagging))
[Narration] They've been listed as a state endangered
species and a 12 year tagging and restoration effort has begun. Since 1989, a million paddlefish
have been dropped into east Texas rivers. The small fish that don't become lunch will
grow large. Downstream studies are being done to determine human impacts.
[Sean Filey] Areas that still are not inundated can be saved. Maybe in some cases new areas
could be created, and with careful monitoring of the species, hopefully we'll get it up
to levels where it won't be on that endangered list anymore.
[Pitman] I think we've done everything that we can to ensure that the species will survive
in Texas, and I'm hopeful that it will.
[Narration] On the Neches River near Orange, I'm Kevin Benz.