Animal Sciences Commons^™

Fish Community Composition And Structure Near A Freshwater River Diversion In Southeastern Louisiana, Rachel L. Snider

LSU Master's Theses

Gulf of Mexico estuaries, particularly in Louisiana, are among the world’s most productive, with landings of commercially- and recreationally-important species exceeding all other contiguous US states. Coastal wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate because they have been impounded from Mississippi River water and sediment. Although controversial, one proposed solution is to re-route the Mississippi River through diversions and siphons to supply the freshwater and sediments necessary to rebuild vanishing wetlands, particularly in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound, LA. This strategy is one approach outlined in the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. This project aimed to describe the composition and structure …

An Analysis Of Dredge Efficiency For Surfclam And Ocean Quahog Commercial Dredges, Leanne Poussard

Master's Theses

Between 1997 and 2011, The National Marine Fisheries Service conducted 50 depletion experiments to estimate survey gear efficiency and stock density for Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) and ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) populations using commercial hydraulic dredges. The Patch Model was formulated to estimate gear efficiency and organism density from the data. The range of efficiencies estimated is substantial, leading to uncertainty in the application of these estimates in stock assessment. Analysis of depletion experiment simulations showed that uncertainty in the estimates of gear efficiency from depletion experiments was reduced by higher numbers of dredge tows per experiment, more tow overlap …

The “Challenge" Of Depletion: Why The Oyster Fishery Is Not Self-Regulating, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Leanne M. Poussard

CCPO Publications

The possibility that the economics of the oyster fishery impose a self-limitation on overharvesting has been proffered on occasion. The inefficiency of harvesting by the fishery has been evaluated and estimates of the exploitation rate permissible under conditions of maximum sustainable yield have been obtained in previous studies. The question becomes to what extent does the inefficiency of harvest interact with the economics of the fishery to compromise ready detection of overfishing? This study explores the possibility that the constraint of economics on the fishery occurs at oyster exploitation rates that are higher than maximum sustainable yield, leading ineluctably to …

Aging Techniques & Population Dynamics Of Blue Suckers (Cycleptus Elongatus) In The Lower Wabash River, Dakota S. Radford

Masters Theses

The Blue Sucker, Cycleptus elongatus, occurs in large rivers primarily in the Mississippi River basin. Their imperiled status has called attention to the need for its management and protection. Estimating age is crucial for directing management, but past studies have varied in their choice of hard structure, resulting in uncertainty regarding the basic life history of this species. Because the Wabash River Blue Sucker population may be one of few surveyable populations with high abundance and successful reproduction, their demographics can provide a benchmark against which threatened populations can be compared. We harvested Blue Suckers (n = 168) …

The Effects Of Seasonal Variations, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, And Climate Change On The Tuna-Dolphin Association, Caitlynn Birch, Michael D. Scott, Zhi-Yong Yin, Lisa T. Ballance

Theses

Tuna and dolphins swim together in the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific, and this association has long benefitted tuna fishermen and intrigued scientists. Although the tuna-dolphin association is often referred to as a “mystery,” much is known about the association. Yellowfin tuna are primarily caught with spotted dolphins and, to a lesser extent, spinner dolphins; historically the spotted dolphin has borne the brunt of the bycatch mortality. The tuna-dolphin association is thought to be a product of the distinct oceanography of the ETP: a shallow mixed layer, a thick oxygen minimum zone, and warm surface waters. As the mixed …

Characterizing Louisiana's Freshwater Commercial Fisheries, Lauren Bonatakis

LSU Master's Theses

As an important contributor to Louisiana’s economy, the commercial freshwater fisheries have been the subject of growing attention in recent years by resource managers. Compared to the marine sector, little is known about these fisheries. Anecdotally, the fisheries appear to be on the brink of collapse. Fewer young fishermen are entering the field, fish buyers and processors are closing, and market prices remain stagnant. Because of this, the fisheries lack the resources needed to perpetuate the success and sustainability for future generations. To better understand this industry, I conducted a two-part study to characterize the commercial freshwater fisheries in Louisiana. …

Challenges In Columbia River Fisheries Conservation: A Response To Duda Et Al., Brian K. Hand, Courtney G. Flint, Chris A. Frissell, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Shawn P. Devlin, Brian P. Kennedy, Robert L. Crabtree, W. Arthur Mckee, Gordon Luikart, Jack A. Stanford

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The salmonid fisheries of the Columbia River Basin (CRB) have enormous socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological importance to numerous diverse stakeholders (eg state, federal, tribal, nonprofit), and there are a wide array of opinions and perspectives on how these fisheries should be managed. Although we appreciate Duda et al.'s commentary, it offers only one perspective of many in this context. The objective of our paper (Hand et al. 2018) was to provide justification for “the importance of social–ecological perspectives when communicating conservation values and goals, and the role of independent science in guiding management policy and practice for …

The Economic And Social Values Associated With Small South Dakota Lakes, Aaron Patrick Sundmark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The valuation of small fishing lakes is a vital component in understanding the importance of fishing and of recreational resources, in general. Knowing the values associated with such lakes is essential when prioritizing management activities. The overall value of a lake as a resource for human benefit is estimated as the summation of both instrumental and non-instrumental values. Instrumental values consist of economic and utilitarian values, as well as the values that a lake provides from ecosystem services. Non-instrumental values consider what the lake is worth as a good of its own, such as aesthetic, moral, and spiritual values gained …

Cointegration Analysis Of Wild And Farmed Sea Bream And Sea Bass Prices In Turkey, Mehmet Saltuk Arikan, Ahmet Cumhur Akin, Mustafa Bahadir Çevri̇mli̇, Mustafa Agah Teki̇ndal

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Market integration is an indicator of the extent to which different products are interrelated, and the presence of market integration between products suggests that they are substitutes. The objective of this study was to determine the market interaction between wild and farmed products of two fish species, namely sea bream and sea bass. For this purpose, the relationship between the producer price time series of cultured sea bream, wild sea bream, cultured sea bass, and wild sea bass in the period of 2009-2017 was tested using the cointegration analysis technique. It was found that the wild sea bream and sea …

Troubled Waters: Threats And Extinction Risk Of The Sharks, Rays And Chimaeras Of The Arabian Sea And Adjacent Waters, Rima W. Jabado, Peter M. Kyne, Riley A. Pollom, David A. Ebert, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Gina M. Ralph, Shakha S. Al Dhaheri, K. V. Akhilesh, Khadeeja Ali, Mohamud Hassan Ali

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The extinction risk of sharks, rays and chimaeras is higher than that for most other vertebrates due to low intrinsic population growth rates of many species and the fishing intensity they face. The Arabian Sea and adjacent waters border some of the most important chondrichthyan fishing and trading nations globally, yet there has been no previous attempt to assess the conservation status of species occurring here. Using IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Categories and Criteria and their guidelines for application at the regional level, we present the first assessment of extinction risk for 153 species of sharks, rays and …

Bottom Trawl Fishing Footprints On The World’S Continental Shelves, Ricardo O. Amoroso, C Roland Pitcher, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Robert A. Mcconnaughey, Ana M. Parma, Petri Suuronen, Ole R. Eigaard, Francois Bastardie, Niels T. Hintzen, Franziska Althaus, Susan Jane Baird, Jenny Black, Lene Buhl-Mortensen, Alexander B. Campbell, Rui Catarino, Jeremy Collie, James H. Cowan Jr., Dean Durholtz, Nadia Engstrom, Tracey P. Fairweather, Heino O. Fock, Richard Ford, Patricio A. Galvez, Hans Gerritsen, Maria Eva Gongora, Jessica A. Gonzalez, Jan G. Hiddink, Kathryn M. Hughes, Steven S. Intelmann, Chris Jenkins, Patrik Jonsson, Paulus Kainge, Mervi I. Kangas, Johannes N. Kathena, Stefanos Kavadas, Rob W. Leslie, Steve G. Lewis, Mathieu Lundy, David Makin, Julie Martin, Tessa Mazor, Genoveva Gonzalez-Mirelis, Stephen J. Newman, Nadia Papadopoulou, Paulette E. Posen, Wayne Rochester, Tommaso Russo, Antonello Sala, Jayson M. Semmens, Christina Silva, Angelo Tsolos, Bart Vanelslander, Corey B. Wakefield, Brent A. Wood, Ray Hilborn, Michael J. Kaiser, Simon Jennings

Fisheries Research Articles

Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years. Trawling footprint varied markedly among regions: from < 10 % of seabed area in Australian and New Zealand waters, the Aleutian Islands, East Bering Sea, South Chile, and Gulf of Alaska to > 50% in some European seas. Overall, 14 % of the 7.8 million-km2 study area was trawled, and 86% was not trawled. Trawling activity …

Management Strategies To Minimize The Dredging Impacts Of Coastal Development On Fish And Fisheries, Amelia S. Wenger, Christopher A. Rawson, Shaun K. Wilson, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers, Scott Atkinson, Nicola Browne, Douglas Clarke, Martial Depczynski, Paul L A Erftemeijer, Richard D. Evans, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Jennifer L. Mcilwain, Dianne Mclean, Benjamin J. Saunders, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Accelerating coastal development and shipping activities dictate that dredging operations will intensify, increasing potential impacts to fishes. Coastal fishes have high economic, ecological, and conservation significance and there is a need for evidence-based, quantitative guidelines on how to mitigate the impacts of dredging activities. We assess the potential risk from dredging to coastal fish and fisheries on a global scale. We then develop quantitative guidelines for two management strategies: threshold reference values and seasonal restrictions. Globally, threatened species and nearshore fisheries occur within close proximity to ports. We find that maintaining suspended sediment concentrations below 44 mg/L (15–121 bootstrapped CI) …

Feeding Patterns Of Two Commercially Important Fish Species Scomberoides Commersonnianus And S. Tol In The Northern Arabian Sea Coast Of Pakistan, Nazia Qamar, Sher Khan Panhwar, Ralf Riedel

Faculty Publications

Port landing of Scomberoides commersonnianus and S. tol were obtained between July 2013 and June 2015 for stomach content analysis. Analysis of prey composition was done using permutational analysis of variance (permanova), with species, life stage (juvenile and adults), gender, and weather (rainy and dry season) as factors. Patterns of empty stomachs were investigated to estimate feeding intensity. Feeding intensity was estimated with logistic regression, using the same independent variables as above. Prey importance was also investigated. Prey importance was assessed using a Wilcox Rank Correlation analysis on the Index of Relative Importance (IRI) by species and life-stage. Permanova analysis …

Fishery Interaction Modeling Of Cetacean Bycatch In The California Drift Gillnet Fishery To Inform A Dynamic Ocean Management Tool, Nicholas B. Sisson

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Understanding the drivers that lead to interaction between target species in a fishery and marine mammals is a critical aspect in efforts to reduce bycatch. In the California drift gillnet fishery static management approaches and gear changes have reduced bycatch but neither measure ascertains the underlying dynamics causing bycatch events. To avoid further potentially drastic measures such as hard caps, dynamic management approaches that consider the scales relevant to physical dynamics, animal movement and human use could be implemented. A key component to this approach is determining the factors that lead to fisheries interactions. Using 25 years (1990-2014) of National …

Synchrony — An Emergent Property Of Recreational Fisheries, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Keith Hurley, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Recreational fisheries are traditionally managed at local scales, but more effective management could be achieved using a cross-scale approach. To do this, we must first understand how local processes scale up to influence landscape patterns between anglers and resources. We highlight how population-based synchrony methods, used in conjunction with a complex-adaptive-systems framework, can reveal emergent spatial properties within social-ecological systems such as recreational fisheries.

2. Herein, we quantified the level of spatial synchrony in angler behaviour, defined the relationship between angler synchrony and distance among waterbodies, and highlighted social-ecological attributes contributing to these patterns. We leveraged a 111 waterbody-year …

California Rushes In—Keeping Water Instream For Fisheries Without Federal Law, Paul Stanton Kibel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Crayfish Harvesting Practices In The Southern Atchafalaya River Basin: Quantitative And Qualitative Assessment Of Harvester Techniques And Hydrologic Connectivity Influence On Harvesting Strategies, Ivan A. Vargas-Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

Fisheries produce important impacts around the world through the exploitation of a wide range of species. In Louisiana, crayfish is the most emblematic crustacean and supports a multi-million industry based on pond culture and harvest from natural habitats. Although the economic value (USD) of wild-harvested crayfish has decreased from 10% to 3% of total crayfish value from 2013 to 2015, wild harvested crayfish are highly desired by many consumers and have a strong socio-cultural importance in Louisiana and other Gulf of Mexico coastal regions. This project evaluated harvesting practices by: 1) field observation and mapping of harvest sites in southwestern …

Status Reports Of The Fisheries And Aquatic Resources Of Western Australia 2016/17. State Of The Fisheries, Daniel J. Gaughan, K. Santoro

Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

The Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Western Australia (SRFAR) provide an annual update on the state of the fish stocks and other aquatic resources of Western Australia (WA). These reports outline the most recent assessments of the cumulative risk status for each of the aquatic resources (assets) within WA’s six Bioregions using an Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) approach.

Conservation Limnogeology And Benthic Habitat Mapping In Central Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania), Joseph S. Lucas

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Small scale protected zones are valuable for helping the health and productivity of fisheries at Lake Tanganyika (East Africa). Spatial placement of protected areas relies on accurate maps of benthic habitats, consisting of detailed bathymetry data and information on lake-floor substrates. This information is unknown for most of Lake Tanganyika. Fish diversity is known to correlate with rocky substrates in ≤ 30 m water depth, which provide spawning grounds for littoral and pelagic species. These benthic habitats form important targets for protected areas, if they can be precisely located.

At the NMVA, echosounding defined the position of the 30-m isobath …

Walleye Fishery Ecology In Lake Oahe Of The Dakotas, Eli Felts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Walleye Sander vitreus is among the most popular sport fishes in North America and is the most sought-after fish in both South Dakota and North Dakota. Lake Oahe, a large main stem Missouri River reservoir, spans state boundaries and provides one of the most popular and productive Walleye fisheries in both Dakotas. The Walleye population of Lake Oahe has experienced wide fluctuations in abundance and size structure over the last 25 years which has caused high variability in angler use and satisfaction. Much of this variation is thought to be driven by Rainbow Smelt Osmserus mordax, which are the dominant …

Synchrony - An Emergent Property Of Recreational Fisheries, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Keith L. Hurley, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Fish Sentience, Consciousness, And Ai, Ila France Porcher

Animal Sentience

The systematic criticism of articles providing evidence that fish and invertebrates can feel pain is discussed. Beliefs are known to be stronger than evidence in the human mind, and could generate this outcry, while from another perspective, the criticisms appear as a territorial move by fishermen against a perceived threat to their domain. The scientific inconsistency in which consciousness is granted to machines but not to fish and invertebrates, purely due to political bias, is pointed out. No basis exists for denying sentience to any life form as long as science is ignorant of the nature and source of consciousness.

Evaluating Elasmobranch Bycatch And Shark Depredation In The Georgia Shrimp Fishery, Matthew M. Scanlon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Georgia shrimp fishery has seen a dramatic decrease in profit and productivity since the 1980’s due to a number of economic factors. Additional, yet undocumented, pressures on this fishery include interactions between foraging sharks with trawl gear. Fishermen report that sharks frequently bite nets in an attempt to prey on netted fish, resulting in large holes in the gear. Further elasmobranch interactions with trawl gear occur as bycatch; shrimp trawls represent nearly 100% of elasmobranch commercial bycatch in Georgia state waters, the species composition of which is largely unstudied. Shark interactions with nets were detailed through fishery-dependent observations on …

Interactive Effects Of Flow Regime, Climate Change, And Angler Harvest On Smallmouth Bass At The Southern Range Extent, Christopher Middaugh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Ozark-Ouachita Interior Highlands of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri are the southern extent of native Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu range. Smallmouth Bass are an important species economically and ecologically, but it is unknown how climate change may affect them in this region and in particular how Smallmouth Bass may be affected differently across streams from various flow regimes. Here I present three projects investigating how climate change, flow regime, and angler harvest may interact to affect Smallmouth Bass over the coming century. I first modeled present and future water temperatures and calculated growth rate potential for Smallmouth Bass from streams …

From Disaster To Sustainability: The Story Of The Pacific Groundfish, Matthew Richards

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper reviews the circumstances that led to the collapse of the Pacific groundfish fishery and the steps that fishery managers took to curb over-harvesting and bring the fishery back to sustainability. Fishery managers utilized various management tools such as a vessel buyback program, regulatory mechanisms, and market strategies to improve the available data on the fishery, improve safety for fishermen, and reduce harvest rates and overcapitalization. By employing a diverse range of measures, managers developed a system by with they successfully balanced conservation objectives and minimized adverse impacts to fishing communities. Overcapitalization and overharvest continue to degrade the health …

A Critical Analysis Of The Direct Effects Of Dredging On Fish, Amelia S. Wenger, Euan S. Harvey, Shaun K. Wilson, Christopher A. Rawson, Stephen J. Newman, Douglas Clarke, Benjamin J. Saunders, Nicola Browne, Michael J. Travers, Jennifer L. Mcilwain, Paul L A Erftemeijer, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Dianne L. Mclean, Martial Depczynski, Richard D. Evans

Fisheries Research Articles

Dredging can have significant impacts on aquatic environments, but the direct effects on fish have not been critically evaluated. Here, a meta-analysis following a conservative approach is used to understand how dredging-related stressors, including suspended sediment, contaminated sediment, hydraulic entrainment and underwater noise, directly influence the effect size and the response elicited in fish across all aquatic ecosystems and all life-history stages. This is followed by an in-depth review summarizing the effects of each dredging-related stressor on fish. Across all dredging-related stressors, studies that reported fish mortality had significantly higher effect sizes than those that describe physiological responses, although indicators …

Status Reports Of The Fisheries And Aquatic Resources Of Western Australia 2015/16. State Of The Fisheries, W.J Fletcher, M.D. Mumme, F J. Webster

Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

As part of the transition to ultimately using a web based, hierarchical interface, this years’ edition of the Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Western Australia 2015/16 is adopting a more streamlined format. These changes include updates to the summary table which, in addition to displaying the stock and fishery performance levels, now includes current performance and risk levels for each of the other EBFM outcomes (e.g. bycatch, listed species, economics etc.).

Technological Modernization And Its Impact On Agriculture, Fisheries And Fossil Fuel Utilization In The Asia Pacific Countries With Emphasis On Sustainability Perspective, Rajee Olaganathan, Kathleen Quigley

Publications

Modernization is a process that moves towards efficiency. This affects most of the fields such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, urban planning, policy, fossil fuel usage, manufacturing, technology, economic growth etc. This process plays a major role in moving forward making things faster, better and basically more efficient. The effects of modernization on all these fields bring about the major changes to aspects such as social, economic and the environment. The level of operation has increased from a domestic level; small family scale business to large commercial levels. As the level of operation increased, the utilization of natural resources increased gradually …

Fit To Predict? Ecoinformatics For Predicting The Catchability Of A Pelagic Fish In Near Real-Time, Kylie L. Scales, Elliot L. Hazen, Sara M. Maxwell, Heidi Dewar, Suzanne Kohin, Michael G. Jacox, Christopher A. Edwards, Dana K. Briscoe, Larry B. Crowder, Rebecca L. Lewison, Steven J. Bograd

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The ocean is a dynamic environment inhabited by a diverse array of highly migratory species, many of which are under direct exploitation in targeted fisheries. The timescales of variability in the marine realm coupled with the extreme mobility of ocean-wandering species such as tuna and billfish complicates fisheries management. Developing ecoinformatics solutions that allow for near real-time prediction of the distributions of highly mobile marine species is an important step towards the maturation of dynamic ocean management and ecological forecasting. Using 25 years (1990-2014) of NOAA fisheries' observer data from the California drift gillnet fishery, we model relative probability of …

The Conservation Status Of Marine Bony Shorefishes Of The Greater Caribbean, Kent E. Carptenter, Christi Linardich, Gina Ralph, N. Cox, D. R. Robertson, H. Harwell, A. Acero P., W. Anderson Jr., F. Barthelat, J. -L. Bouchereau, J. J. Brown, J. Buchanan, D. Buddo, B. Collette, M. Comeros-Raynal, M. Craig, M. Curtis, T. Defex, J. Dooley, W. Driggers Iii, C. Elfes Livsey, T. Fraser, R. Gilmore Jr., L. Grijalba Bendeck, A. Hines, R. Kishore, K. Lindeman, J. -P. Maréchal, J. Mceachran, R. Mcmanus, J. Moore, T. Munroe, H. Oxenford, F. Pezold, F. Pina Amargós, A. Polanco Fernandez, B. Polidoro, C. Pollock, R. Robins, B. Russell, C. Sayer, S. Williams

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The greater Caribbean biogeographic region covered in this report (representing 38 countries and territories) encompasses an outstanding marine bony shorefish richness of approximately 1,360 species, with many (53%) being endemic. This report provides an overview of the conservation status of greater Caribbean shorefishes, with detailed information available through the IUCN Red List, and gives recommendations.