DNR stocks its beloved fish pond ahead of 2024 Minnesota State Fair

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Before human guests are allowed into the Great Minnesota Get-Together , fishy fairgoers will get to settle in first.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says its outdoor pond and indoor tanks at the Minnesota State Fair will be stocked on Tuesday with about three dozen species of fish native to the state.

Among the species on display are lake sturgeon, the state's largest and oldest-lived fish in the state, as well as several types of migratory redhorse fish, gar, sunfish and bowfins.

This year marks the DNR building's 90th year at the fair, although its fish exhibit has been on display since 1905, with the first aquarium purchased from the St. Louis World's Fair the year before.

Genevieve Furtner, supervisor of the St. Paul State Fish Hatchery, told WCCO last year that the current DNR building cost $73,000 to build in 1934, which was 10 times the amount of profit the fair took in that year.

Outside of the 12-day fair, the fish spend the rest of the year at the acre-sized hatchery in St. Paul. Due to possible ecological and epidemiological issues, they can't be released back into lakes and rivers .

The DNR offers seven daily Pond Talks at its building during the fair off Carnes Avenue and Nelson Street.

NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is Sept. 1, 2023.