Use of the Osage River by Telemetry-Tagged Pallid Sturgeon

Since 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its collaborators at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been engaged in a long-term study of the movement and habitat use of the endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) in the lower Missouri River. Although pallid sturgeon are most often located in the swift, turbid main channel of the mainstem Missouri River, they have been found with increasing regularity in and near tributaries.   Telemetry locations in and near the mouth of the Osage River suggest that this tributary may be particularly significant to the species.  Between 2008 and 2010 nine telemetry-tagged pallid sturgeon were located 64 times in the Osage River or at its confluence with the Missouri River.  Pallid sturgeon located in the search area have included wild and hatchery-origin individuals, reproductive and non-reproductive adults, and both migratory and non-migratory fish.  Pallid sturgeon have moved up the Osage River as far as the barrier at Lock and Dam 1 and have remained in the tributary from spring through mid-summer.  Individual sturgeon have resided near the mouth of the Osage River for periods ranging from months to more than a year.  The relative value of tributaries to the recovery of the species is as yet unknown, but tributaries such as the Osage River may provide important habitat for overwintering, aggregation or refuge; feeding opportunities; or reproductive requirements of the species in the highly modified Missouri River basin.