Habitat Preferences of Paddlefish in the Lower
Neches River, Texas

IAN M. KLEIN, SEAN D. FINLEY, AND GENE R. WILDE (Department of Range,
Wildlife, and Fisheries Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2125)

The paddlefish Polyodon spathula is native to the Neches, Red, Sabine, and Trinity river systems of Texas and historically supported commercial and recreational fisheries in the state. Habitat modifications, especially construction of dams that block spawning migrations, and overharvest have resulted in a decline in paddlefish stocks throughout its range in Texas. As part of an effort recover these paddlefish fisheries, the Texas Park and Wildlife Department has been stocking paddlefish into the Neches River since 1990.

During periods of low flow in the Lower Neches River, such as have occurred in spring 1996, the Lower Neches Valley Authority installs temporary saltwater barriers in the lower river and Pine Island Bayou to prevent salt water from entering its water intake structures. Installation of these barriers becomes necessary approximately once every 10 years. From February through May 1996, we studied habitat preferences of paddlefish in the Lower Neches River to help assess potential affects of saltwater barriers on paddlefish recovery efforts. We assessed habitat preferences with a combination of gill nets and ultrasonic telemetry. Based on over 2000 hours of gill netting, we concluded that paddlefish are not abundant in the Lower Neches River; on average we caught one paddlefish for every 50 hours of meeting. Telemetry results for 15 tagged fish show that paddlefish frequent the lower end of Pine Island Bayou including its confluence with the Neches River. Upstream movements by paddlefish in the Neches River and Pine Island Bayou are prevented by saltwater barriers: downstream movements are apparently limited by the location of the saltwater wedge in the lower reaches of the river. Tagged fish occasionally move into brackish water, but return to fresher waters upstream after several hours.

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