Warmwater Stream Committee
Southern Division, American Fisheries Society
Roundtable Discussion - February 21, 2002
Little Rock, Arkansas
 

Dan Catchings (Alabama Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources) - In the “water wars” issue, an agreement was reached on the ACT system but not on the ACF system. There must be agreement on both systems.

April Layher (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission) - Agency is concerned about paddlefish stocks and the commercial fishery for them. Egg prices are at $50.00/pound and poaching is increasing. Alan Carter is in a new position. He will work with the Corps of Engineers to make improvements (200 sites) to remove instream structures and notch dikes.

Keith Weaver - Georgia Department of Natural Resources - State has experienced 3 years of drought and the farmers are pumping the rivers dry.

Al Surmont - Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources - started in lieu fees for stream impacts. The program is going well but politicians want the money for projects in their counties. Fish kills (Wayne Davis).

Dennis Riecke - Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks - Sixty percent of the ATV’s sold in the nation are sold within a 200 mile radius of Jackson, MS and we are having a problem with people riding them in streams. Legislation to specifically prohibit this activity was introduced. One or two additional streams will be approved to enter into the voluntary scenic streams program. Agency developed a native mussel poster and recently published the book “Inland Fishes of Mississippi”.

Paul Balkenbush - Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation - I was hired in March 1998 as the first streams biologist. Now, we have 2 stream biologists and 2 fisheries technicians with budgets, equipment and good agency and constituent support. We developed a streams management plan, sampling plans and reach specific regulations . We sample 6 streams/yr. The Oklahoma Streams Information System is an ARCview GIS-based system. Obtained several grants. Worked with Info & Education personnel to perform stream cleanups and outreach and educational programs. No formal stream teams. Big issues are surface water use, tailraces and sediments from sivicultural operations.

Chris Thomason - South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources - increasing volume of work driven by FERC relicensing. Issues are passage, water quality, instream flow. Working to keep robust redhorse populations stable. There is emphasis from administrators to do more work on small streams.

Frank Fiss - Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - dam construction. More intensive sampling for smallmouth bass populations. In-house publication available on agency website. Obtaining basic information about stream fisheries (growth, mortality, population structure) and then do smallmouth bass work.

Joe Schiller - Austin Peay State University, TN - issues are: nonpoint source pollution, increasing urbanization, gravel mining, ATV use, mountaintop removal.

Randy Moss - Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife - after 13 years of restocking paddlefish without any measurable results, we stopped stocking. Now focus is to conserve stocks rather than restore them. TX appreciates the WWSC support of the Red River Chloride Control Project. It has been reduced in scope. Texas also has a problem with 4-wheel drive trucks breaking down river banks, driving in streams, property damage. 7 major reservoirs, plenty of water supply development projects.

Scott Smith - Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries - drought. Working on fish passage, removal of dams on Appomattox and Rappohannock rivers. Instream flow projects on the Smith River. Lots of work on large rivers, smallmouth bass population estimate. John Copeland is working on the statewide streams project, modeling the number of samples per basin needed to get accurate picture of fisheries. Statewide angler survey showed 50% of VA anglers use warmwater streams. VA Tech Univ. (Don Orth) has a new facility to rear juvenile mussels.

Chris O’Bara - West Virginia Division of Natural Resources - Ohio River Navigational Impact Study, fish passage through locks and dams, winter habitat work. Paddlefish and black bass management plans for Ohio River. Standardized sampling and reporting and tagging in 6 states for walleye, sauger, saugeye management plans in Ohio River. Mitigation for Kenaw River - place hard structures and reintroduce paddlefish and sturgeon. Small streams - 2 new projects - 1) smallmouth bass populations characteristics and movements; 2) muskie - age and growth, movement, population structure.

Jerri Phillips - Univ. of Tennessee - Chattanooga - April 19, 2002 sponsoring a workshop on pressing issues in Chattanooga: environmental justice, natural resource management, sustainable economic development, urban sprawl.