Plastic pollutes our environment worldwide due to mismanagement of much of the 360 million tons of plastic produced each year. Microplastics (particles < 5 mm) are ubiquitous in the environment and are known to cause gut irritation in wildlife, carry pathogens, and can contain persistent organic pollutants that transfer to animal tissues. Considering that conservation efforts for endangered species often include anthropogenic intervention, we are interested in exploring how common conservation strategies might expose wildlife to microplastic pollution. Our study species is the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), a freshwater endangered fish distributed throughout the Mississippi Watershed Basin and the Laureation Great Lakes. Fish eggs were hatched, and the larva reared in propagation tanks at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. Fish larva that died naturally (~ 300 fish) were preserved to explore microplastic presence in fish. In addition, tank water and fish food samples were collected to determine if these were possible sources of microplastic exposure. Fish, water, and food samples (n = 3 reps/matrix) were processed similar to microplastic standard methods. Samples were digested with a 20% potassium hydroxide solution, vacuum filtered onto a 1.2μm polycarbonate filters, and then examined via microscopy to enumerate microplastic and anthropogenic particles. Particle counting is underway. We expect that 1) fibers will be the most common particle across all matrices (fish, food, water), and 2) that food resources are expected to be the primary source of microplastic contamination to fish since tank water undergoes filtration treatment. Understanding how microplastic pollution in wildlife might be linked to conservation strategies is key to making sure our strategies are not unknowingly contributing to pollution exposure that could be harming protected wildlife while trying to help recover animal populations in the wild.