JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri fish hatchery is being considered for an effort to reintroduce the endangered Topeka shiner fish back into state streams after being on the verge of extinction.

The Joplin Globe reports the minnows currently are found in two Missouri creeks and previously were found in a third until about 1990. They also can be found in portions of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Fisheries biologist Jerry Wiechman with the Missouri Department of Conservation says there are a few details to be worked out before the shiners can be raised at the Neosho National Fish Hatchery in southwest Missouri.

Wiechman says studies examining why the Topeka shiner is disappearing don’t point to a specific culprit, but generally the fish disappears where human activity increases.