Mo. officials studying rules on catfish numbers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri conservation officials are studying the state's population of blue catfish with an eye to increasing the population of larger blues.

The Conservation Department says anglers began noting a decline in the numbers of large blue catfish in Truman Lake in the 1980s, and more recently in the Lake of the Ozarks.

The agency is in the middle of three-year study that involves catching, weighing, measuring and releasing blue catfish in the two lakes.

Using those numbers, conservation officials may decide to revise the limits on taking blue catfish of a certain size, so they're not overfished and have a chance to grow.