OSWEGO (AP) -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation says a four-foot-long sturgeon stocked in Oneida Lake has been found dead more than 50 miles and seven canal locks away in Lake Ontario.

It washed ashore near Oswego on Aug. 2. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey discovered it had an internal tag implanted by Cornell University Biological Field Station researchers in Oneida Lake on July 16, 2004.

DEC began a lake sturgeon stocking program in 1995 to restore a spawning population in Oneida Lake. The dead fish was traced back to eggs that were collected and fertilized by DEC staff in Laval, Quebec.

It was the second tagged sturgeon from Oneida Lake known to have migrated to Lake Ontario. The cause of death is unknown. Sturgeon can live more than 150 years.

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