Researchers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have spent the last few weeks out on the San Francisco Bay and Delta studying a species of prehistoric fish that has survived for hundreds of millions of years but now faces potential demise.

Researchers have been conducting a biannual operation to tally the number of white sturgeon in California, using long lines baited with dozens of hooks to try to snag the elusive fish, identified by their distinctive rows of bony plates that give them a dinosaur-like appearance.

“White sturgeon have been in the fossil record for at least 50 million years,” said John Kelly, CDFW’s statewide sturgeon coordinator. “So this is like a redwood of the bay.”

During its current summer operation, research crews aboard locally chartered fishing b

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