Multiple environmental groups in the state filed a lawsuit last year urging the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act.

The species are already listed as an endangered in multiple states including Indiana. A federal designation would mean more protections, including funding.

The groups first threatened suit in May when the Fish and Wildlife Service missed its deadline to respond to their petition to list the lake sturgeon. The agency has since responded, but now its missed its next deadline in the process.

The fish is an endangered species in the state, but environmentalists say it needs federal protection.

Three Indiana environmental groups are seeking federal protection for the only naturally reproducing population of lake sturgeon known to remain.