ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — Talk about the catch of the day.
Members of the Hudson River Estuary Program fisheries staff caught a 220-pound fish that was over 6 feet long, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The NYS DEC said the fish, an Atlantic sturgeon, was caught last week.
It was captured under a National Marine Fisheries Service endangered species research permit. The NYS DEC said the Atlantic sturgeon is an endangered, anadromous fish species that spends most of the year in the ocean, but adults move to the Hudson River this time of the year to spawn.
The catch was part of an annual survey that began in 2006. It’s conducted during May and June to track the trends in the Atlantic sturgeon population.
Staff caught the fish with nets, measured it, and scanned it for a tag. After taking a piece of fin for genetic analysis, it was weighed and released back into the water.