FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Scientists are scooping up minnows from a shrinking Texas river in the first rescue of fish threatened by the state’s worst drought in decades.
Hundreds of smalleye and sharpnose shiners are being collected from the Brazos River, about 175 miles northwest of Fort Worth. They’ll be taken to the state’s fish hatchery but returned to the river when the drought abates.
Wildlife biologists waded through the muddy river bed Friday morning to reach the shallow water. They used a large net to scoop up the finger-size fish and put them in buckets.
The lack of water means the fish don’t have the 100 miles of river they need to reproduce. Both minnows are candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
