NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — An annual effort to help save the endangered pallid sturgeon brought biologists from across the state to Neosho.

Thirteen fish biologists tagged 3,300 pallid sturgeon last week to prepare them for release into the Missouri River.

The project is a joint venture of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Project. It is funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Neosho Daily News reports the goal of the program is to monitor the fish along the entire length of the Missouri River from Montana to St. Louis.

Kasey Whiteman, with the state conservation department, says the program has helped biologists learn more about the ancient fish but much is still unknown about some stages of the species life.