Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

Use Of Otolith Chemistry To Assess Recruitment And Habitat Use Of A White Bass Fishery In A Nebraska Reservoir, Matthew A. Perrion, Mark A. Kaemingk, Keith D. Koupal, Casey W. Schoenebeck, Nate A. Bickford

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Managing fisheries that exhibit variable annual recruitment is challenging, and maintenance stockings are often prescribed to minimize interannual population variation. Maintenance stockings are costly and may not be necessary if sufficient natural recruitment is occurring. Therefore, developing tools and techniques that can collectively assess hatching origin and subsequent habitat use of individuals would be valuable. Herein, we aimed to assess the efficacy of otolith chemistry techniques to (1) determine whether there was evidence of natural recruitment within an annually stocked white bass population and (2) examine the potential to describe spatial reservoir use of these age-0 fish. A sample of …

Using Northern Pike And Yellow Perch To Attempt A Trophic Cascade, Bryan Sea

Journal of Earth and Life Science

In the midwestern USA, water clarity has decreased in shallow lakes as a result of large populations of Fathead Minnow Pimephales promelas and agriculture that impact the life that depend on shallow habitats, such as waterfowl, fish, and aquatic plants. Northern Pike Esox lucius and Yellow Perch Perca flavescens were stocked in a few lakes in attempt to create a tropic cascade and reduce populations of nuisance Fathead Minnows. Northern Pike were stocked as fry and Yellow Perch were stocked as adults either pre-spawn or post-spawn. Lake managers hypothesized adult Yellow Perch would spawn and the age-0 Perch would feed …

Distribution, Density, Movement, And Support For Management Of Mountain Sucker, Pantosteus Jordani, In The Black Hills Of South Dakota, Seth J. Fopma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mountain Sucker, Pantosteus jordani, is a cold-water species native to the Intermountain West. Fringe populations of Mountain Sucker have experienced declines in recent decades. The population of Mountain Sucker found in the Black Hills of South Dakota represents the eastern fringe of the species’ native range. Recognized as both an indicator of biologic health and as a species of greatest conservation need in South Dakota, recent studies have suggested significant declines in both distribution and abundance. Despite the recent study of Mountain Sucker in the region, increased understanding of Mountain Sucker ecology is needed to effectively manage for the conservation …

Influence Of Mink Predation On Brown Trout Survival And Size-Structure In Rapid Creek, South Dakota, Austin Galinat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I compared movement, home range, habitat selection, and mortality among radio-tagged Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) at an American Mink (Neovison vison)-removal site, improved habitat site, and an undisturbed stream site in Rapid Creek, South Dakota. I observed high, post-surgery (> 26 days) survival rate (90%) of radio tagged Brown Trout. Average gross movement of Brown Trout was greater at the improved habitat site (127 m) compared to the mink removal (31 m) site, while average home range size (i.e., stream distance) among all three sites was not significantly different indicating strong site fidelity (125 to 200 m). Brown Trout movements …

Estimates Of Red Drum Mortality Via Acoustic Telemetry, T. Reid Nelson, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Subadult (age < 3) Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus support a valuable recreational fishery, and mortality estimates for young Red Drum are needed for proper management. To obtain these estimates, age-1 and age-2 Red Drum were implanted with acoustic transmitters and external Floy tags in two coastal Alabama rivers (Fowl and Dog rivers). Fates of tagged fish were inferred from stationary receiver detections and active relocations over 1 year. These fates were used in a Bayesian multistate model to estimate instantaneous monthly and annual mortality and emigration rates for each river and overall from both rivers. Instantaneous monthly fishing mortality (F) ranged from 0.001 to 0.112 (annual F = 0.414) in Dog River, from 0.001 to 0.126 in Fowl River (annual F = 0.309), and was 0.001–0.054 (annual F = 0.337) overall. Instantaneous monthly natural mortality (M) ranged from 0.001 to 0.002 (annual M= 0.069) in Dog River, from 0.001 to 0.036 (annual M= 0.178) in Fowl River, and from 0.001 to 0.017 (annual M= 0.090) overall. The overall annual estimate of instantaneous total mortality (Z) was 0.435. The median escapement percentage was estimated at 36.3% (95% posterior credible interval = 19.5–56.0%) using M and Z from the overall model. Unfortunately, the error on this estimate was large and inconclusive as to whether the 30% escapement goal for juvenile Red Drum to the adult population from Dog and Fowl rivers is being met. Monthly residency estimates were typically greater than 0.90, and overall annual residency was estimated at 0.716. Fishing mortality estimates from the current study are higher than recent catch curve estimates that did not include young Red Drum. These results demonstrate that young Red Drum need to be accounted for when generating mortality estimates and provide needed data for the Red Drum recreational fishery.

Habitat Associations And Co-Occurrence Patterns Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Predatory Fishes, Mariah C. Livernois, Sean P. Powers, Mark A. Albins, John F. Mareska

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Estuarine-dependent fishes experience a wide range of environmental conditions, and most species exhibit distinct associations with particular habitats. However, similar species or multiple conspecifics often overlap spatiotemporally, which can result in ecological interactions that have consequences for behaviors that can shape the structure and function of ecosystems. We used a long-term gill-net data set (2001–2015) to investigate the habitat associations and cooccurrence patterns of two estuarine-dependent predatory fishes, Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus and Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus, in coastal Alabama, USA. Both species were associated with similar environmental conditions, primarily low dissolved oxygen and low salinity, especially when temperature was …

Mitogenome Of Northern Long-Eared Bat, Sarah Gaughan, Kevin L. Pope, Jeremy A. White, Cliff Lemen, Patricia Freeman

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The complete mitogenome of the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was determined to be 17,362 bp and contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and one control region. The whole genome base composition was 33.8% GC. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that M. septentrionalis be positioned next to M. auriculus in the Nearctic subclade of the Myotis genus. This complete mitochondrial genome provides essential molecular markers for resolving phylogeny and future conservation efforts.

Use And Expenditures On Public Access Hunting Lands, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Lutz F. Gruber, Erica F. Stuber, Lindsey N. Messinger, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The recreational and economic benefits of hunting on traditional permanent public lands are well-established. Increasingly popular “open fields” hunting access programs temporarily open private lands to public hunting through public-private partnerships. Open fields programs have the potential to create public hunting opportunities and economic development in rural communities, but the extent to which open fields programs compare to traditional public lands at providing benefits to hunters and rural communities has not yet been evaluated. We compared hunter use and expenditures on open fields lands and traditional public lands in Nebraska, USA. We used Convolution Likelihood Ecological Abundance Regression, a novel …

Exit Here: Strategies For Dealing With Aging Dams And Reservoirs, Henry H. Hansen, Emily Forzono, Alisha Grams, Lindsay Ohlman, Christine Ruskamp, Mark A. Pegg, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aging infrastructure is prevalent throughout the world, but water control management structures, specifically dams, are of growing concern. Dams and their corresponding reservoirs have inherent, but separate, lifespans. The proportion of dams around the world that continue operation beyond their intended lifespans is growing at an alarming rate. Society will not only have to navigate the tradeoffs associated with the deterioration of services provided by reservoirs and dams, but also impending structural failures. Society is nearing a critical pinch point where we will have to decide how to deal with dams and reservoirs at scales that range from a single …

Spatial And Temporal Genetic Structure Of Winter-Run Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) Returning To The Mad River, California, Steven R. Fong

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Distinct populations of steelhead in the wild are in decline. The propagation of steelhead in hatcheries has been used to boost population numbers for recreational fisheries and for use in conservation. However, hatchery breeding practices of steelhead can result in changes in genetic structure. I investigated the genetic structure of winter-run steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) returning to the Mad River, California, where a hatchery has been used enhance production for recreational fisheries since 1971. Genetic variability in Mad River steelhead was evaluated using 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among 4203 individuals, including the Mad River and nearby locations, and …

Sampling The Local Fare: Fishes At The Sam Israel House Pit (45gr76), Soap Lake, Washington, Adam Fruge

All Master's Theses

The Sam Israel site is a precontact archaeological complex with numerous fish bones at the north end of Soap Lake, Washington. Excavated in 1976, the fish remains recovered from there were never fully analyzed prior to this research. Since this inland Columbia Plateau site had thousands of fish bones, it contained untapped potential for our understanding of ancient local fish procurement. As such, I conducted a detailed analysis of 2,862 fish bone specimens from the Sam Israel House Pit locus to: study a larger sample of fish bones in greater detail than was done before; compare the distribution of fishes …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

First Records For Spawning Of Caribbean Acropora Species In Colombian Mpas, David M. Hudson, Barrett L. Christie, Luis A. Gómez-Lemos, Camilo Valcarcel, Diego Duque, Juan C. Zárate Arévalo, Jaime Rojas, Otto Reyes, Milena Marrugo, Maria Rosa, Israel A. Caicedo Torrado, Diana Tarazona, Carlos Zuluaga

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Estimates of Colombian Caribbean coral percent cover in the Southern Caribbean are consistent with those throughout the Caribbean Sea, which has declined to about 10% of historical levels in the last few decades. Human activities like destructive fishing techniques in the marine parks have degraded the reefs over the last few decades. Colombia’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have thousands of square kilometers to map and patrol and few resources to devote to scientific and restoration efforts. Efforts to implement sexual reproduction techniques for restoration are starting to successfully propagate and settle corals on ceramic plates for reef deployment in the …

The Vezo Communities And Fisheries Of The Coral Reef Ecosystem In The Bay Of Ranobe, Madagascar, Shane Abeare

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Madagascar, a country whose extraordinary levels of endemism and biodiversity are celebrated globally by scientists and laymen alike, yet historically has received surprisingly little research attention, is the setting of the present dissertation. Here, I contribute to the need for applied research by: 1) focusing on the most intensely fished section of the Toliara Barrier Reef, the Bay of Ranobe; 2) characterizing the marine environment, the human population, and the fisheries; and 3) collecting the longest known time-series of data on fisheries of Madagascar, thereby providing a useful baseline for future analyses. In Chapter 1, the bathymetry of the Bay …

Hunters And Their Perceptions Of Public Access: A View From Afield, Joseph J. Fontaine, Alexis D. Fedele, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Lindsey N. Messinger, Christopher J. Chizinski, Jeffery J. Lusk, Karie L. Decker, J. Scott Taylor, Erica F. Stuber

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Declining hunter participation threatens cultural traditions and public support for conservation, warranting examination of the forces behind the downward trajectory. Access to lands for hunting, an often-cited reason for non participation, may play a critical role in the retention and recruitment of hunters. Meeting the access needs of a diverse hunting constituency requires understanding how hunters use and perceive access opportunities, particularly public-access sites. Given that perceptions of access are entirely place based and degrade with time, traditional postseason survey methods may fail to adequately quantify the value of public access to the hunting constituency. To overcome the potential limitations …

An Impact Assessment Of Illegal Unreported Unregulated (Iuu) Fishing In Central Africa As A Step Towards Sustainability In Africa’S Fishing Industry : Case Study : Cameroon, Noella Njeuyap Mbotiji

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Future Importance Of Healthy Oceans: Ecosystem Functions And Biodiversity, Marine Pollution, Carbon Sequestration, Ecosystem Goods And Services, Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The paper provides a review the current status of ecosystem and resource extraction to provide a series of thoughts related to the future challenges in maintaining the health of the Marine and coastal ecosystems at the Bay of Bengal. The chapter highlighted the challenges current efforts and future interventions necessary to keep the Bay of Bengal large marine ecosystem healthy. They are mainly linked to climate change, environmental pollution from different sources, biodiversity conservation, sediment movement. marine spatial planning and adoption of protected area concept to design marine reserve, fish sanctuary and ecological critical areas in the coastal zone were …

The Influence Of Location, Positioning, And Seasonality On Feeding Behavior Of The Sydney Oyster (Saccostrea Glomerata) In New South Wales, Australia, Nathaniel Hess

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Oysters are hard shelled bivalves that aggregate over time to create structures in estuarine systems, known as oyster reefs. These reefs are important for the promotion of estuarine biodiversity by supporting many species of fish, invertebrates, and plants. They also act as a key contributor to water health by using active suspension feeding mechanisms and selective feeding to remove nutrients and water borne pollutants from estuarine systems. They have been touted as possible bio-remediators. They also effect rates of sedimentation in estuaries.

Oyster reefs have historically been threatened by anthropogenic influences such as overharvesting, destructive fishing practices, water pollution, CO2 …

Mortality, Perception, And Scale: Understanding How Predation Shapes Space Use In A Wild Prey Population, Lindsey N. Messinger, Erica F. Stuber, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Attempts to assess behavioral responses of prey to predation risk are often confounded by depredation of prey. Moreover, the scale at which the response of prey is assessed has important implications for discovering how predation risk alters prey behavior. Herein, we assessed space use of wild Ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in response to spatial and temporal variation in recreational hunting. We radio-marked pheasants and monitored space use at two spatial scales: short-term seasonal home range, and nightly resting locations. Additionally, we considered temporal variation in predation risk by monitoring space use prior to and during the pheasant hunting season. Although …

Public Access For Pheasant Hunters: Understanding An Emerging Need, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Anastasia E. Madsen, Erica F. Stuber, Christopher J. Chizinski, Jeffrey J. Lusk, J. Scott Taylor, Kevin L. Pope, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ring‐necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; i.e., pheasant) hunting participation is declining across North America, reflecting a larger downward trend in American hunting participation and threatening benefits to grassland conservation and rural economies. To stabilize and expand the pheasant hunting population, we must first identify factors that influence pheasant hunter participation. We used an extensive in‐person hunter survey to test the hypothesis that hunter demographics interact with social‐ecological traits of hunting locations to affect hunter decisions, outcomes, and perceptions. We built a series of Bayesian mixed effects models to parse variation in demographics, perceptions, and hunt outcomes of pheasant hunters interviewed at …

Evolutionary History Predicts High‐Impact Invasions By Herbivorous Insects, Angela M. Mech, Kathryn A. Thomas, Travis D. Marsico, Daniel A. Herms, Craig R. Allen, Matthew P. Ayres, Kamal J.K. Gandhi, Jessica Gurevitch, Nathan P. Havill, Ruth A. Hufbauer, Andrew M. Liebhold, Kenneth F. Raffa, Ashley N. Schulz, Daniel R. Uden, Patrick C. Tobin

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. A long‐standing goal of invasion biology is to identify factors driving highly variable impacts of non‐native species. Although hypotheses exist that emphasize the role of evolutionary history (e.g., enemy release hypothesis & defense‐free space hypothesis), predicting the impact of non‐native herbivorous insects has eluded scientists for over a century.

2. Using a census of all 58 non‐native conifer‐specialist insects in North America, we quantified the contribution of over 25 factors that could affect the impact they have on their novel hosts, including insect traits (fecundity, voltinism, native range, etc.), host traits (shade tolerance, growth rate, wood density, etc.), and …

Effect Of Beaver On Brook Trout Habitat In North Shore, Lake Superior Streams, Kathryn Renik

Biology Graduate Theses

In Minnesota, North American Beavers Castor canadensis (hereafter Beaver) are considered to have an overall negative affect on native Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis. Brook Trout provide a valued and productive sport fishery to the North Shore streams of Lake Superior and since revival of the Beaver population from past trapping and timber harvest, a reexamination of the complex ecological relationship where the two taxa interact is imperative. Suitable Brook Trout habitat is characterized by cold, spring- fed water with silt-free rocky substrate and abundant cover, all of which Beaver may directly, or indirectly, affect. Data collection occurred on 79 (200 …

How Characteristic Is The Species Characteristic Selection Scale?, Erica F. Stuber, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim: The importance of framing investigations of organism–environment relationships to interpret patterns at relevant spatial scales is increasingly recognized. However, most research related to environmental relationships is single‐scaled, implicitly or explicitly assuming that a “species characteristic selection scale” exists. We tested the premise that a single characteristic scale exists to understand species– environment relationships within species by asking (a) what are the characteristic scales of species’ relationships with environmental predictors, and (b) is within species, cross‐predictor consistency in characteristic scales a general phenomenon.

Location: Nebraska, USA.

Time period: 2016.

Major taxa studied: Birds.

Methods: We used data from 86 species …

Operationalizing Ecological Resilience Concepts For Managing Species And Ecosystems At Risk, Jeanne C. Chambers, Craig R. Allen, Samuel A. Cushman

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

This review provides an overview and integration of the use of resilience concepts to guide natural resources management actions. We emphasize ecosystems and landscapes and provide examples of the use of these concepts from empirical research in applied ecology. We begin with a discussion of definitions and concepts of ecological resilience and related terms that are applicable to management. We suggest that a resilience-based framework for management facilitates regional planning by providing the ability to locate management actions where they will have the greatest benefits and determine effective management strategies. We review the six key components of a resilience-based framework, …

Landscape Edges Shape Dispersal And Population Structure Of A Migratory Fish, Mark A. Kaemingk, S. E. Swearer, S. J. Bury, J. S. Shima

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Many freshwater organisms have a life-history stage that can disperse through seawater. This has obvious benefits for colonization and connectivity of fragmented sub-populations, but requires a physiologically challenging migration across a salinity boundary. We consider the role of landscape boundaries between freshwater and seawater habitats, and evaluate their potential effects on traits and developmental histories of larvae and juveniles (i.e., dispersing life-history stages) of an amphidromous fish, Galaxias maculatus. We sampled juvenile fish on their return to 20 rivers in New Zealand: 10 rivers had abrupt transitions to the sea (i.e., emptying to an open coastline); these were paired …

Aquatic Invasive Species Change Ecosystem Services From The World's Largest Wild Sockeye Salmon Fisheries In Alaska, Tobias Schwoerer, Joseph M. Little, Milo D. Adkison

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This study combines a multi-method approach to structured expert judgment with market valuation to forecast fisheries damages from introduced invasive species. The method is applied to a case study of Alaska’s first submersed aquatic invasive plant, Elodea spp., threatening Alaska’s salmon fisheries. Assuming that Elodea spp. remains unmanaged, estimated mean damages to commercial sockeye fisheries aggregated across Alaska amount to a potential $159 million annually with a 5% chance of exceeding $577 million annually ($2015 USD). The associated mean loss of natural capital amounts to $5.1 billion cumulatively over the next 100 years reaching $400 million after 10 years. …

Any Port In A Storm: Vessel Activity And The Risk Of Iuu-Caught Fish Passing Through The World’S Most Important Fishing Ports, Gilles Hosch, Bradley Soule, Max Schofield, Trevor Thomas, Charles Kilgour, Tim Huntington

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This study assesses the risk of fish from illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) sources passing through the world’s most important fishing ports and explores the drivers of this risk.

Like previous studies it has attempted to rank ports and States based on landings and vessel visits reported by governments by using Automatic Identification System (AIS) positional data transmitted by fishing and fish carrier vessels to identify the locations of ports and rank them based on the frequency of visits by foreign-flagged and domestic-flagged vessels. It advances our thinking in that (i) the analysis includes an estimation of the hold capacity …

A Fishy Problem: Effects Of Atlantic Salmon Farming In The Pacific Ocean, Madeleine A. Griffith

Student Theses 2015-Present

In this report, I explore the historical, climatological, economic, and ethical issues created by the contemporary industrial salmon farming practices off Pacific coast of the United States and Canada. Chapter 1 utilizes a variety of sources from Stephen Hume’s A Stain upon the Sea to Miller’s Living in the Environment, to examine the integral part salmon plays in both freshwater and marine ecosystems, the ecosystem services salmon contribute in wild and farmed settings, and the trends in salmon consumption around the world. Chapter 2 examines the historically relevant role salmon held among indigenous societies and how that role has changed …

Resource Assessment Report Western Rock Lobster Resource Of Western Australia. Addendum 1, Simon De Lestang, Jason How, Nick Caputi

WA Marine Stewardship Council report series

The West Coast Rock Lobster Fishery was certified under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard in 2000, and was the first fishery in the world to be MSC certified. Since then it has successfully been re-accredited in 2006, 2012 and 2017. This document provides an update on changes to the fishery for annual audits by the MSC certification body and the annual stock assessment update for quota setting of the western rock lobster resource.

Eating Some Invasive Species Could Help To Mitigate The Impacts Of Climate Change-Related Invasions, And May Increase Future Food Security, Jesse Bull Saffeir

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change is predicted to increase the spread and abundance of invasive species and to erode global food security. I hypothesized that by incorporating edible invasive species into local food sheds, these two problems could help to mitigate each other. I set out to answer two questions: could eating invasive species reduce their spread and abundance? And could eating invasive species minimize the impacts of climate-change related food shocks? To answer these questions, I surveyed the existing literature on human consumption of invasive species, created a list of criteria that make an invasive species suitable for management through human consumption, …