Roundtable Discussion - August 24, 2005, Yellville, Arkansas
Kin Hodges – North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) – Hurricane Isabel caused extensive fish kills in several coastal rivers in September 2003. To help speed the recovery of the bass populations in these rivers, 70,000 microtagged largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked into 28 study sites in 2004. Evaluations of this stocking effort have been underway since spring 2004. Fingerlings of three different sizes (2”, 3-5”, and 6-8”) were stocked to determine if advanced fingerlings were more effective at recruiting to the fishery. Although recapture rates of the 6-8” fingerlings were much higher than those observed for the smaller fingerlings, the stocking effort overall appears to be unsuccessful due to the low total numbers of tagged fingerlings that have been collected. Worth noting is the significant migration that many of these fingerlings have undertaken, with many being collected in study sites that were several kilometers away from where they were originally stocked. Natural reproduction was much higher than expected in the study sites in 2004, indicating that native fish began moving back into areas affected by the hurricane sooner than anticipated.
Dr. Tom Kwak with the N.C. Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at N.C. State University is doing radio telemetry work with flathead catfish in the Deep River in central North Carolina. The radio tagged fish are located in a river reach bounded on both ends by dams. The lower dam is scheduled to be removed shortly, which will provide the opportunity to study how the movement patterns of the catfish change in response.
Mike Holliman, a post-doc working with Dr. Kwak at NCSU, is performing experiments to determine how mussels are affected by electrofishing. The research is assessing the mussel’s response to electrofishing at both the adult, glauchidial, and larval stages. Findings of this research will be useful in assessing the risks that electrofishing poses to threatened mussel populations.
Dennis Riecke – Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks (MDWFP) – Louisiana has proposed a ban on entanglement gear on rivers draining to Lake Pontchartrain and the Pearl River to protect sturgeon (what spp?). MDWFP will support.
Tennessee and Arkansas currently allow fishing for paddlefish, while Mississippi does not. The three states will hold negotiations over how much paddlefishing to allow.
Out of state (sturgeon?) harvesters have been coming to Mississippi to harvest fish while seasons in their own states are closed. To protect the resource, MDWFP is looking at restricting harvest to Mississippi residents.
Dr. Steve Miranda with the Mississippi Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at Mississippi State University is working on a standardized sampling manual (is this part of the FMS book)?
The Mississippi DEQ is developing an IBI for delta streams that have been impacted by agricultural practices.
Mississippi’s stream mitigation bank is still moving forward.
There is an upcoming court case dealing with public vs. private water, in which a hunter was charged with trespassing.
Rich Standage – U.S. Forest Service (USFS) –
Has been doing several mussel
genetic studies in streams of the Ouachita National Forest (Cyprogenia aberti,
Lasmigona costata and Quadrula apiculata).
At this point,
identifications by genetic and morphological features are not
clear as to
what species they are finding, and more range wide surveys are
planned so
that the mussels can be positively identified.
A proposal has been submitted to study fish passage at low water crossings. Previous studies have utilized mark-recapture techniques, which usually produce poor returns of tagged fish. The current proposal involves tracking passage through crossings by measuring the electrical impedance of objects passing over an electrical grid laid out on the bottom of the crossing. Movement records will be compared with weather, flows, etc…, to help explain why fish moved when they did.
Keith Whalen – U.S. Forest Service (USFS) – Is also looking at fish passage through culverts and stream crossings in the Ozark/St. Francis National Forest.
USFS will be cooperating with state agencies in revising forest management plans to incorporate viability studies for sensitive aquatic species.
They have been working on a model to predict the presence of fish species based on habitat characteristics and have plans to field test it.
A community based fish assessment model (similar to IBI) will be used in future fish & macroinvertebrate community assessments. Models are being built to describe fish & invertebrate communities for the region.
Additions of large woody debris (LWD) are being evaluated in streams within the forest. The study will follow the movement of LWD through these systems and measure the response of the fish community.
Monitoring work will look for impacts on aquatic systems that may result from upcoming prescribed burns in the forest.
Biologists in the forest have been using an Appalachian Aquatics backpack electrofishing unit. This shocker is only half the price of Smith-Root shockers and to this point, it has performed extremely well.
Dan Magoulick – Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at University of Arkansas – Fayetteville – A project is nearly completed monitoring the movement of fish (I didn’t get the species) between Bear Creek and the Buffalo River. A variety of techniques are being used, including mark/recapture, telemetry, and otolith microchemistry measurements. This is part of an assessment to determine the impacts of dam proposed to supply water to the town of Marshall.
The impacts of terrestrial predators on fishes in smaller Ozark streams are being determined using a variety of techniques.
A study is underway to determine how flow disturbances affect Ozark stream fish assemblages and how this compares to streams in China with similar fish communities and disturbances.
April Layher – Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) – Aquatic education staff currently produce stream related curriculum for teachers to work into their lesson plans. Revisions are being made to the curriculum to make it easier for teachers to use.
John Copeland – Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) – The upper reaches of Claytor Lake, a mainstem impoundment of the New River, have significant sedimentation issues. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is interested in doing limited dredging and channel narrowing to move the sediment further downlake. VDGIF is interested in tracking the sediment to determine where it is coming from.
Jason Olive – AGFC – There are two issues of interest concerning warmwater streams in South Arkansas. Both involve the lower Ouachita River.
The first is a proposal to construct a wastewater pipeline from the city of El Dorado (population approx. 24,000) to the Ouachita River. This pipeline would carry the combined effluents (approx. 20 million gallons/day) from the city's 2 wastewater treatment facilities, a large chicken processing plant, an oil refinery, and 2 chemical plants (fertilizer and bromine products) to the Ouachita River above Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, which is above Felsenthal Lock and Dam. There will be a net addition of nutrients to a slow moving river/reservoir system and the primary concern is nutrient loading.
The second issue involves the USACE's plans to discontinue the use of locks on waterways with too little commercial traffic to justify their operation. These are being called "Low-Use Waterways." The Ouachita-Black River Navigation System was initially included in this, which is why it concerns the AGFC. Other rivers initially included were the Atchalafaya (LA) and the Coosa (AL), among others. At this point, it is not clear what the Corps is going to do with the locks (i.e. tear them down, leave floodgates permanently closed or permananently open, etc…). Obviously, future plans for the locks will have tremendous impacts on fisheries and other recreational uses of these waterways. For the 2006 budget, the Ouachita/Black system received funding, and the locks will continue to be used in the short term, but their future is uncertain.
Eric Cummins – Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) – Telemetry is being used to track the movements of walleye between Rock Castle River? and the Cumberland. These two populations are genetically distinct from each other.
Genetic analysis is underway on E. Kentucky smallmouth bass populations. This work will document any genetic differences between populations that need to be considered during possible restocking efforts between drainages in the future.
KDFWR staff are conducting mussel surveys across the state. Initial, low intensity surveys are being used to identify areas worthy of higher intensity followup sampling. So far, several additional mussel species have been identified during the higher intensity surveys.
A new ichthyologist has been hired using SWG funds.
Kentucky’s stream mitigation bank has accumulated $22 million,
but as in other states, it has been difficult to get mitigation
projects lined up on private property.
Brian Wagner – AFGC – Staff working on a comprehensive strategy to use SWG funds. Species of priority have been identified across the state, and aquatic species consistently ranked near the top of the list, especially crayfish. Current projects involve the distribution and genetics of burrowing crayfish, the distribution of stream crayfish, and surveys for Arkansas darters.
Scott Smith (VDGIF) – Scott Smith (VDGIF) - VDGIF has been conducting population estimates using depletion sampling on selected smallmouth bass rivers since 2001. The data is being compiled in one report (hopefully completed by spring 2006), which will be available for distribution to other states. The data focuses on smallmouth bass, but will include all the species collected in the surveys. An article describing the technique is out in NAJFM (May issue), and reprints are available from John Odenkirk (john.odenkirk@dgif.virginia.gov).
Work is currently underway to develop correction factors for these smallmouth bass population estimates using mark/recapture techniques and telemetry. It is believed that depletion sampling tends to underestimate population size. Mark/recapture techniques, on the other hand, often overestimate population size because the actual number of tagged fish residing in the site during the time of the sample is less than the number that were released into the site when dealing with open systems. Telemetry is now being used to estimate what proportion of tagged fish are present in the site on the day of the sample. The telemetry work has also provided useful insights into how fish avoid being collected during electrofishing samples.
Creel results are now being compiled for several Virginia rivers. These will be available for distribution when completed (hopefully in spring 2006). In some systems, smallmouth bass are being caught several times per year, and fishing effort (no. of angler hours) is similar to effort on our large reservoirs.
Two publications pertaining to smallmouth bass mamagement have been produced by VDGIF staff. One relates flow to recruitment (August issue of NAJFM - reprints available from Scott Smith), and the other describes the population estimate sampling mentioned above.
A supplemental stocking program for smallmouth bass was begun in 2005 on one river (planned for 3 rivers, but only had enough fish to stock one at a reduced rate). The fish were OTC marked and subsequent sampling will monitor their contribution to the fishery. The goals of this stocking are to 1) augment recruitment during years when natural reproduction is low and 2) to produce even larger year classes during years of good recruitment to increase the number of fish that survive to the older age classes needed to produce trophy fish. To this point, it has been difficult to produce the number of fish requested. It appears as if factors that cause poor year classes in rivers also produce poor year classes in hatcheries.
Blue catfish have been spread to all coastal rivers. They are found in high densities in these systems. In some instances, they are feeding heavily on native mussels. White and channel catfish have declined following blue catfish introductions, while most other species seem OK.
An experimental largemouth bass stocking effort was launched on the Chickahominy River this year, after the population declined due to several years of drought conditions. The success of these stockings will be monitored by VDGIF staff.
Several new projects are coming up for renewal under the FERC relicensing process. Under the new integrated licensing process, resource agencies are being required to list more of their concerns up front in an effort to cut down the duration of the relicensing effort.
Forty-plus snakeheads were collected in the Potomac River this year, and reproduction was documented downstream of Washington, D.C. Genetics work suggests that the fish have come from common ancestors for the most part. VDGIF staff will continue to monitor the situation to determine if native fishes are affected as the snakehead population increases. Currently, snakeheads appear to be selecting forage in proportion to what is available, focusing on gizzard shad and perch. To this point, they have been collected in very shallow (3 ft or less) areas where other predators are not present, which may help increase their reproductive success.
Jeff Quinn – AGFC – There is a court case involving access to an oxbow lake on the lower Arkansas River. A hunting club that owns the land around the oxbow lake filled in the channel connecting it to the river, and a lawsuit was filed to restore public access to the oxbow. A state court ruled that there should be access since navigable waters are involved. When this ruling was appealed at the federal level, it was ruled that the oxbow did not constitute navigable waters and that it was not necessary to provide access. The Corps decided not to appeal the federal decision.
Zebra mussels were rebounding in the Arkansas River following several warm winters, but they appear to be declining with the dry, hot summer.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have a very intensive paddlefish research project ongoing. We had a special 5-day commercial fishing season on the Ozark Pool of the Arkansas River. Harvest was 1075 fish in 5 days and exploitation was 23%.
The Eleven Point River was the subject of on intensive fisheries study by the district fisheries biologists in northeast Arkansas. A total of 308 walleye was collected while electrofishing in 2002 through 2004. Recapture percentage for freeze branded fish among the total walleye catch for each year dropped from 35% in 2002, to 22% in 2003 and 19% in 2004. An interesting point that deserves to be noted is that during the 3-year study several walleye in the 10-pound or heavier class were collected. The overall, three-year average was 6.38% of all walleye collected being 29 inches or larger. Otolith growth rates were determined for walleye and smallmouth bass.
Fisheries biologists will be initiating studies to evaluate a catch-and-release harvest regulation proposal for smallmouth bass on the Caddo River, an Ouachita Mountain stream.
We contracted with Dr. Hal Schramm to determine the acres of aquatic habitat lost to sedimentation on the Arkansas River since 1970. Preliminary results suggest 9,000 acres of aquatic habitat has been lost since construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River navigation system.
AGFC also has a contract with Dr. Bill Layher to survey the distribution of nongame fishes in the large rivers of Arkansas, and this will be the first survey of the large rivers where mini-trawls are used.
Frank Fiss – Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) - TWRA is currently seeking applicants for an Instream Flow Coordinator. Position is to be based in Nashville area and will coordinate projects statewide. Funding of this position represents a strong commitment to flow issues by TWRA.
There have been several reports of acute smallmouth bass mortality in streams in VA and PA. Is anyone else having problems? Tennessee has not noticed any problems yet.
TWRA is in planning mode this year, preparing comprehensive strategic plans to demonstrate how will use our Federal Sportfish Restoration Funding over the next five years. The Streams Program includes warmwater streams and rivers, and so far habitat, flows, invasive species, lack of access, have been hot topics.
Tennessee’s Statewide Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy is just about done. It identifies all watersheds where T&E species are located and list the severity of the threats in the watershed. The planning document will be used to focus management of non-game species. Funding for this project will increase the amount of survey activity and protection of Tennessee streams in the coming years.