Hugh Lewis/Jefferson Jimplecute
Jefferson and Marion County has a new mascot – of sorts.
Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur, County Commissioners, and Jefferson Mayor Rob Baker all proclaimed the Paddlefish as the official fish of Marion County and the City of Jefferson during their regular meetings the last week in August.
The near mirror proclamations read:
“Whereas the Paddlefish is a living fossil more than 300 million years old; and
Whereas, Paddlefish are unique from any other North American fish in that they have no scales, only a jawbone, and a paddle or rostrum that is about one-third the length of it’s body; and
Whereas, Paddlefish are native to Big Cypress Bayou in Marion County, though they were wiped out from their native range and declared state threatened in 1977; and
Whereas, Paddlefish have been experimentally released into Big Cypress Bayou in Marion County since 2014, and a full-scale restocking began in 2018, which is the only Paddlefish restocking in the state of Texas; and
Whereas, The unique habitat of Big Cypress Bayou is being restored through efforts of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Northeast Texas Municipal Water District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy, The Collins Academy, the Jeffersonian Institute, and the Caddo Lake Institute;
Now Therefore, Be it Proclaimed, the Marion County Commissioners (and the City of Jefferson) hereby resolves that the Paddlefish is the official fish of Marion County (and the City of Jefferson), Texas, celebrating the county’s unique habitat and wildlife.”
Caddo Lake Institute Executive Director Laura-Ashley Overdyke was on hand with Commissioners to thank them for the proclamation and provide additional information about the Paddlefish.
“The “American” Paddlefish is now the only surviving paddlefish species on the planet,” Overdyke said. “Historically there were six species, with the second to last remaining, the “Chinese” paddlefish declared extinct in 2020. The “American” paddlefish has inhabited Caddo Lake, as well as other rivers and bayous of the Mississippi River Basin for over 350 million years, making these beautiful fish 50 million years older than the dinosaurs and the oldest living species on our continent. Paddlefish are now rarely found in any rivers in Texas.”
Overdyke said it is illegal to keep any Paddlefish caught in Texas, but they are found in Louisiana. She said that Louisiana had recognized the urgency of protecting the Paddlefish in Caddo Lake and Toledo Bend, and had recently agreed to follow the same guidelines as Texas in those Lakes.
A festival celebrating the Paddlefish is being proposed to the Jefferson Tourism Board at their next meeting.