Threatened paddlefish bound for Caddo Lake
The Shreveport Aquarium in Louisiana has yet to open, but already it is working to preserve East Texas history.
The aquarium has partnered with the Caddo Lake Institute to begin raising paddlefish and introducing more of them to Caddo Lake.
The 25,000-acre lake straddles the border between Louisiana and Texas.
The sprawling lake, which features huge cypress trees draped in Spanish moss, is believed to have been formed when a logjam caused the Red River to flood sometime in the 18th century.
Around that time, the Caddo Indians expanded their territory into the area. The lake was later named for the tribe.
The Caddo Lake Institute has partnered with the new Shreveport Aquarium to help preserve the lake’s unique ecosystem. The lake is the largest bald cypress forest in the United States.
Aquarium staffers are developing a plan for what the lake preservation efforts will entail.
“Paddlefish are one of the oldest living species in North America. We want to be able to continue the living history that’s in the corner of the states we share,” Shreveport Aquarium Marketing Director Jake Wood said.
The paddlefish date back to more than 50 million years before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. They are considered a threatened species because of poaching and ecosystem disruption caused by the construction of dams and reservoirs.
“We oftentimes take for granted what we have right here in our backyard,” Wood said. those views and get on with the daily business of a world class university.”
Wiginton told The Battalion that scheduling the event for Sept. 11 had nothing to do with the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Primarily because it is the second week after school starts and Monday is a busy day on campus,” Wiginton said. “It has nothing to do with 9/11, the Twin Tower situation. I find that the millennial generation doesn’t even relate to 9/11, and it was the date that was open.”
Wiginton, who attended A&M briefly from 2006 to 2007, brought Spencer to speak at the university on Dec. 6, nearly a month after the election of President Donald Trump, who political observers say elevated the profile of the alt-right movement when he named former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Bannon has called Breitbart “the platform for the alt-right,” a movement that critics say uses racist rhetoric and advocates white supremacy.
Wiginton told the Bryan newspaper The Eagle that Spencer’s speech, which drew a large crowd of student protesters against the event, was a success for the alt-right movement.
“I think that was a steppingstone for white people to realize that there are issues, and they feel comfortable enough now to talk about them,” Wiginton said.
When asked by The Eagle about the violence that accompanied white supremacists rallying in Virginia, Wiginton said he did not want to endanger Texas A&M students.
“We are not here to bring violence by any means,” he told The Eagle. “The violence in Virginia and at the Spencer talk in December was brought on by leftists. They are the true fascists, they’re closed-minded and are against free speech.”