Detroit Lakes area fisheries

Combining newly captured and historic footage and interviews, this video chronicles efforts to re-introduce lake sturgeon to the Red River of the North drainage basin.

The Red River flows north 550 miles from its source in Breckenridge, Minnesota, to Lake Winnipeg in Canada. Along the way, it forms the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. It's home to a variety of fish, including the lake sturgeon.

An ancient species that can reach 7 feet in length and exceed 150 pounds, lake sturgeon were extirpated from the river near the turn of the 20th century due to a variety of human activites. To bring back sturgeon, restoration efforts in the Red River drainage basin have been underway for the last three decades.

Thanks to the work of the Minnesota DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, White Earth Nation, Red Lake DNR, Rainy River First Nations, North Dakota Game and Fish Department and Canadian partner agencies, lake sturgeon in the Red River drainage basin are recovering.