Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

A Guide To Nestling Development And Aging In Altricial Passerines, Dennis Jonsomjit, Stephanie L. Jones, Thomas Gardali, Geoffrey R. Geupel, Paula J. Gouse

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Nestling growth and development studies have been a topic of interest for a greater part of the last century (Sutton 1935, Walkinshaw 1948) and continue to be of interest today. This is not surprising since studies on nestling growth can provide a wealth of biological information that has larger implications for avian management and conservation. Despite this history of studying nestling development, basic information is still limited or absent for many species. Many questions remain unanswered, and contradictory conclusions are often found in the literature (Starck and Ricklefs 1998a). Therefore, much information on aging and development can still be gained …

Lead Shot Availability To Birds Using The North Platte River Near A Trap And Skeet Range, Kimberly Dickerson, Aida Farag, Andrea Gray, Dave Harper, William Brumbaugh

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

A trap and skeet shooting range gun club is located on the North Platte River, below the Guernsey Reservoir in Wyoming. In 1999, we obtained sediment samples to determine if lead shot from shooting activities was present and potentially available to waterfowl and bald eagles. We collected 25 sediment samples, each consisting of the upper 10 cm of sediment, every 1.5 meters along transects that paralleled the river bank and skeet range. Sediment was sorted using a series of sieves. Nineteen of the 25 samples contained at least one lead shot (range = 1-14 lead shot/sample). Samples nearest the bank …

Assessment Of Impacts To Aquatic Organisms From Pesticide Use On The Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Elizabeth J. Materna, Jeremy Buck

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

The primary habitat management objective for the three refuges of the Willamette Valley NWR Complex is to provide high quality forage for wintering Canada geese. To accomplish this, much of the land within the refuge is managed for grass production involving applications of herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Other agrochemicals such as insecticides are applied to agricultural land outside the refuge. Some agrochemicals used in the area have the potential to enter aquatic habitats of the refuge and could impact species such as amphibians, turtles, or the federally-listed Oregon chub. The objective of this investigation was to sample both biotic and …

Evaluation Of Wetlands Created With Effluent From A Swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Using Mallard Sentinels: Implications For Mcmurtrey National Wildlife Refuge, Matthew S. Schwarz, Christina D. Lydick

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Previous work by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified nutrients, elemental contaminants, algal toxins, bacterial pathogens, and hormones as contaminants of concern (COCs) associated with wetlands created from the secondary effluent of a large swine concentrated animal feeding operation. In this follow-up study, COC exposure and effects to waterfowl were evaluated using game farm mallards. Mallards were kept in enclosures built on two created wetlands (treatment sites) and two reference wetlands that are federally managed for waterfowl habitat. Water quality in the created wetland enclosures had higher specific conductivity, BOD, turbidity, pH, and nutrients than reference wetlands. Algal blooms …

Dietary Overlap Of An Alien And Native Carnivore On San Clemente Island, California, R. Brand Phillips, Clark S. Winchell, Robert H. Schmidt

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Predation by feral cats (Felis catus) is recognized as a major threat to native fauna worldwide, but the competitive effects of cats on native species have not been extensively studied. Cats occur on San Clemente Island, California, in sympatry with endemic island foxes (Urocyon littoralis clementae). We examined diets of cats and island foxes between years, seasons, and habitats to assess the potential for resource competition between the 2 species. Analysis of 602 cat and 958 fox feces revealed a high level of dietary overlap (O = 0.93) and relatively narrow niche breadths for both …

Color, Cooking Loss And Textural Properties Of Patties As Affected By Catfish Belly Flap Mince Size And Cooking Method, Jin M. Kim, Bartholomew W. Green

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Patties were prepared with different sizes of channel catfish belly flap mince. Belly flap meat was minced using four different sizes of openings of plate, mixed with salt, formed, and cooked by two methods, in water and oven. Results indicated no differences (P>0.05) in Kramer shear break force in the patties cooked by different methods for same size of mince. As size of meat particles for patties decreased, increased were hardness and gumminess, and color difference from fillet, but decreased were Kramer shear break force as well as percent cooking loss (p< 0.05). Patties cooked in an oven showed greater color difference from fillet, percent cooking loss, hardness, and gumminess than those cooked in water for the same size of meat particles (p < 0.05).

Climate-Induced Forest Dieback As An Emergent Global Phenomenon, Craig Allen, David D. Breshears

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

An organized oral session at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in San Jose, Calif., posed this question: Is climate-induced drought stress triggering increasing rates and unusual patterns of forest die-off at a global scale? Twenty-nine researchers representing five continents reported on patterns, mechanisms, and projections of forest mortality.

The Effects Of Harvesting And Hauling On The Blood Physiology And Fillet Quality Of Market-Size Channel Catfish, C. Douglas Minchew, Rachael V. Beecham, Philip R. Pearson, Bartholomew W. Green, Jin M. Kim, Susan B. Bailey

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Commercially produced, food-size channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus that were harvested using routine procedures had significant elevations in plasma cortisol, glucose, and lactate compared with preharvest fish captured from open ponds. Blood samples were taken from 10 fish in each of two treatments (liquid oxygen diffuser- and paddlewheel-aerated holding socks) and four sampling periods (before harvest, after socking, before loading, and before unloading) during each of 10 harvest events. Water column temperatures averaged approximately 278 C during the study. Ten fillet samples were taken from fish held overnight in paddlewheel- and liquid oxygen-aerated holding socks during some harvest events. Mean plasma …

Evaluation Of Habitat Enhancement Structure Use By Spotted Bass, Stanley L. Proboszcz, Christopher S. Guy

The Prairie Naturalist

Habitat enhancement is a common and effective method used to positively influence fish populations. However, there is a paucity of speciesspecific evaluations of stream habitat enhancement structures for warmwater fishes. We evaluated use of half-log, rootwad enhancement structure, and simulated undercut bank (LUNKERS) by adult and juvenile spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus) in natural and experimental streams. Enhancement structures were installed in Otter Creek, Kansas. Adult spotted bass use of natural and enhancement structure was documented weekly during summer and fall of 2001 and 2002 with radiotelemetry. Mean total length (TL) of adult fish was 292 mm (SE = …

Annual Report Of Lands Under Control Of The U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service As Of September 30, 2006, United States Fish And Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Annual Report of Lands Under Control Of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service As of September 30, 2006

Message from the Director

Key to Real Property Numbers

Map of National Fish and Wildlife Management Areas

Map of Waterfowl Productions Areas

Significant Land Acquisition Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2006

Tables
1 Summary by Categories
2 Summary by States, Associated Governments and Possessions
2A FY 2006 Summary by States, Associated Governments and Possessions
3 National Wildlife Refuges
4 Waterfowl Production Areas
5 Coordination Areas
6 Administrative Sites
7 National Fish Hatcheries
8 Wilderness Areas in National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries …

Age Structure And Reproductive Activity Of The Blue Sucker In The Milk River, Missouri River Drainage, Montana, Julie Bednarski, Dennis L. Scarnecchia

The Prairie Naturalist

The life history and ecology of the blue sucker (Cycleptus elongatus) in the lower Milk River, Montana were investigated in 2002 and 2003. A total of 253 blue sucker was captured; 248 adult fish, three larval fish, and two age-0 juveniles. The ages (n = 102) of the adult blue sucker ranged from 10 to 37 years; maximum age greatly exceeded ages reported in other studies. Blue sucker in the Milk River population grew slower, matured later, and lived longer than fish at lower latitudes. Adult females of the blue sucker were longer and weighed more than …

Predicted Responses Of Small Mammals To Reintroduction Of Fire Along A Northern Prairie River Valley, Aren Eddingsaas, Robert Murphy, Patrick Isakson, Keith Behrend

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Fire is being reintroduced to restore native mixed-grass prairie that has been invaded by woody vegetation and introduced species of grasses at 8000-ha (20,000-ac) Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in northwestern North Dakota. Implications of this management for much of the local fauna are merely speculative without basic inventory data. We measured the occurrence and habitat relationships of small mammals (< 450 g [< 1 lb]) in prairie and woodland on the refuge. Using snaptraps, we captured 7 mammal species on 42 75-m (245-ft) radius plots in prairie during summer 1998 (n = 193 individuals in 5,208 trap-nights) and 5 species on 32 11-m (36-ft) radius plots in woodland during summer 2000 (n = 289 individuals in 2,560 trap-nights). We found 13-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) and western jumping mouse (Zapus princeps) almost exclusively in open prairie and southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) almost exclusively in woodland. Based on logistic regression analysis, occurrence of 13-lined ground squirrel …

Long-Term Abundance Of Breeding Songbirds During Restoration Of Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie, Robert Murphy, Karen Smith

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

There are no published, long-term accounts of responses of grassland passerine birds to the restoration of northern mixed-grass prairie through combined use of fire and grazing. During 1979-2001, we assessed abundance of passerine birds (9 grassland species and 1 shrub-associate species) on 2 brush-invaded, mixed-grass prairie tracts at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern North Dakota. Each tract encompassed 90 ha (220 ac) that were being restored through 4 prescribed fires then 3 consecutive years of grazing by cattle. Fires were separated by 2-4 years of rest (i.e., nondisturbance) and grazing was initiated 2 years after the last fire. Among …

White-Tailed Deer Spotlight Survey Trends On Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, 1989-2005, Donald Althoff, Philip Gibson, Gary Meggers, David Hilley, Jim Sellers

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Legal harvest of deer has never been allowed on Quivira National Wildlife Refuge (QNWR) in south central Kansas; however, it is permitted on lands adjacent to the refuge. We assessed whether the rifle season for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) caused increased use of QNWR between 1989 and 2005. Deer spotlight surveys were conducted pre-rifle, rifle, and post-rifle seasons from 1989-2005. Total count, buck count, buck:doe ratio, fawns per doe, and percentage of does with twins were computed for each survey conducted. The average of the last 4 years (2002-2005) of the pre-rifle season surveys was 4.5 times greater …

A Device To Continuously Monitor Dissolved Oxygen And Temperature At User-Selected Depths And Locations In Culture Ponds, Bartholomew W. Green, Philip R. Pearson

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Continuous measurement of dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature at two depths in the water column were needed for a 2004 field study conducted during actual harvests of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus and for a small-scale research study conducted in 2005. In the on-farm field study, we collected data in grading nets loaded with high densities of channel catfish. The small-scale study was conducted in 0.1-acre channel catfish research ponds. Commercially available dissolved oxygen and temperature monitoring units did not meet study requirements, so we developed a free-floating data collection unit composed of state-of-the-art sensors, a data logger, and readily available …

Lists Of Potential Hydrophytes For The United States: A Regional Review And Their Use In Wetland Identification, Ralph W. Tiner

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

The U.S. federal government has developed lists of plant species that occur in wetlands. The initial purpose of these lists was to enumerate plants that grow in wetlands and that could be used to identify wetlands according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wetland classification system. The first list was generated in 1976 by the Service, and since that time, the list has undergone several iterations as more information was reviewed or became available through field investigations and scientific research. Two lists are currently published and available for use: a 1988 list and a 1996 draft list. The latter …

A Preliminary Biological Assessment Of Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge Complex, North Dakota, Murray K. Laubhan, Robert A. Gleason, Gregory A. Knutsen, Rachel A. Laubhan, N. H. Euliss Jr.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

This report represents an initial biological assessment of wetland conditions on Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Slade NWR, and Florence Lake NWR that was conducted as part of the pre-planning phase for development of a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). According to the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (NWRSIA), decisions guiding NWR management should be based on the best available scientific information. Therefore, this report attempts to integrate relevant information from many different scientific disciplines (e.g., geology, hydrology, biology) to assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in identifying ecological constraints and opportunities imposed by the land …

Alaska Reflections, Volume 18, Number 1 – Spring 2006

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Table of Contents:

Reflecting
Outreach News
“Chinese” Dunlin in Barrow!
Life’s Work
Out Foxed
Jack Paniyak
Submerged Salmon Surveilance
Awards
Fish Schticks

Coordinated Spring Survey Of Mid-Continent Sandhill Cranes

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

The aerial transect portion of the coordinated spring survey of mid-continent sandhill cranes was conducted on 23 March in Nebraska’s Platte and North Platte River valleys. The 2005 photo corrected aerial estimate was 491,900 birds. Outside the traditional aerial transect portion, observers utilized both ground and air coverage during the period 5 – 25 March. From this region, observers in the Official Survey Area (OSA) of Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas reported an additional 38,700 cranes. The 2005 total estimate (530,600) increased 18% since 2004 and is the fourth highest in twenty-four years of comparable figures. The current three-year average (2003 …

Selachohemecus Benzi N. Sp. (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) From The Blacktip Shark Carcharhinus Limbatus (Carcharhinidae) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Stephen A. Bullard, Robin M. Overstreet, John K. Carlson

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Selachohemecus benzi Bullard & Overstreet n. sp. infects the heart and kidney of the blacktip shark Carcharhinus limbatus in the northern Gulf of Mexico off Florida and Mississippi, USA. Specimens of S. olsoni Short, 1954, the only congener and only other named blood fluke reported from a chondrichthyan in the Gulf of Mexico, were collected from the heart of the Atlantic sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon terraenovae from two new localities, Apalachicola Bay, Florida, and Mississippi Sound, Mississippi, USA. The new species differs from S. olsoni by having a larger body (1.4–3.8 mm long), robust tegumental body spines numbering 51–63 along each …

Poststocking Movements And Habitat Use Of Hatchery-Reared Juvenile Pallid Sturgeon In The Missouri River Below Fort Randall Dam, South Dakota And Nebraska, George R. Jordan, Robert A. Klumb, Greg A. Wanner, Wayne J. Stancill

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Telemetry was used to evaluate seasonal and diel movement patterns, general habitat use, survival, and spatial distributions of hatchery-reared juvenile pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus stocked in the Missouri River below Fort Randall Dam, South Dakota and Nebraska. Sampling occurred at about 2-week intervals during spring through fall. Of 22 ultrasonically tagged fish, 13 were intensively followed to assess hourly diel movement rates. A total of 258 relocations were made for the 22 tagged fish; 19 fish were relocated at least once, and 16 were relocated multiple times. At least 68% of tagged fish survived for 2.5 years. In 2000, fish …

Fisheries Monitoring At Mel Price Lock & Dam: May 2005 – June 2006, Nathan Caswell

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System (UMR-IWW) Navigation Study was completed in September 2004 after more than 14 years of intensive study and evaluation of the navigation improvement and ecological restoration needs for the UMR-IWW system for the years 2000-2050. The final recommendation included a program of incremental implementation and comprehensive adaptive management to achieve the dual purposes of ensuring a sustainable natural ecosystem and navigation system. The program was initiated in 2005 as the working title of Upper Mississippi River (UMR) System Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) (USACE 2006).

A series of …

Native Salt Marsh Plants And Animals: Flora And Fauna Respond To Restoration Projects, John Portnoy

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Cape Cod National Seashore has an active program of estuarine restoration for the nearly 2500 acres of Outer Cape coastal marshes altered profoundly since the construction of tide-restricting dikes and causeways during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Tides were restricted by roads and railways built across coastal wetlands, and by dikes intended to limit floodwater mosquito breeding and to promote lowland agriculture. With tide restoration under way since 1999 at 90-acre Hatches Harbor in Provincetown, and just beginning in 700-acre East Harbor (also referred to as Pilgrim Lake) in Truro, both native and introduced plants and animals are responding.

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife And Fish Refuge Established 1924 Compatibility Determination

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Establishing and Acquisition Authority(ies):

The Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge was established by Public Law No. 268, 6gth Congress on June 7, 1924. This act authorized acquisition of lands for Refuge purposes. Additional lands acquired in fee title by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are managed as part of the Refuge under a 1963 Cooperative Agreement between the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior.

Refuge Purpose(s):

"The Refuge shall be established and maintained (a) as a refuge and breeding place for migratory birds included in the terms of the convention between the United …

Characterization Of 35 Microsatellite Loci In The Pacific Lion-Paw Scallop (Nodipecten Subnodosus) And Their Cross-Species Amplification In Four Other Scallops Of The Pectinidae Family, Ana M. Ibarra, Jessica Lynn Petersen, Thomas R. Famula, Bernie May

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Four microsatellite-enriched DNA libraries yielded 35 microsatellite loci from 100 primer pairs designed for Pacific lion-paw scallop, Nodipecten subnodosus. The number of alleles ranged from four to 28. Three of the 35 loci were not in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium was found for one pair of loci. These microsatellites will be used to analyze the population structure of the species in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula to propose management strategies for scallop aquaculture development. Twenty-six primer pairs cross-amplified in Nodipecten nodosus, whereas none (Argopecten ventricosus) or few cross-amplified in the Argopecten species.

Ecology Of The Missouri River. Progress Report, Dingell-Johnson Project F-75-R-24, Supplement I - Missouri River Creel Survey, Camp Creek To Kansas State Line, 1 April Through 13 October 2006., Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 29 March through 10 October 2003. This is the fourth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data. Anglers spent over 30,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rk 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rk 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

Status And Harvests Of Sandhill Cranes: Mid-Continent And Rocky Mountain Populations 2006, David E. Sharp, Kammie L. Kruse, James A. Dubovsky

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Compared to the increases that were recorded in the 1970s, annual indices to abundance of the Mid-Continent Population (MCP) of Sandhill Cranes has been relatively stable since the early 1980s. The Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska spring index for 2006, uncorrected for visibility bias, was 183,000. The photo-corrected 3-year average for 2003-05 was 422,133, which is within the established population-objective range of 349,000-472,000 cranes. All Central Flyway states, except Nebraska, allowed crane hunting in portions of their respective states during 2005-06. About 9,950 hunters participated in these seasons, which was 8% higher than the number that participated in the 2004- …

2005 Annual Report: Migratory Bird Conservation Commission

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Report of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for the Fiscal Year 2005:
Approvals During Fiscal Year 2005
Migratory Bird Conservation Fund
Summary of Fiscal Year 2005 MBCF Land Acquisitions
New National Wildlife Refuge Boundary Approvals
Membership of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
Map Showing National Migratory Bird Refuge Areas
Map Showing Waterfowl Production Areas by State and County
Notes on Tables One and Two
Table One––National Migratory Bird Refuge Areas
Table Two––Waterfowl Production Areas by State and County
North American Wetlands Conservation Fund
Table Three––U.S. Wetland Conservation Proposals Approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for FY 2005
Table Four––Canadian …

A Health Risk Evaluation For Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Albus) In The Lower Platte River Using Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Platorynchus) As A Surrogate, Matthew S. Schwarz, Christina D. Lydick, Donald E. Tillit, Diana M. Papoulias, Timothy S. Gross

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Most sturgeon species worldwide have been in steep decline since the 1900s. This research evaluated shovelnose sturgeon health, reproduction, and exposure to environmental contamination in the lower Platte River. Shovelnose sturgeon served as a surrogate species for the endangered pallid sturgeon and their health was assessed by incorporating measurements of general health with hepatic, immune, and reproductive system biomarkers. Environmental contaminants were measured in water, potential pallid sturgeon food items (cyprinid minnows), and shovelnose sturgeon digesta, liver, and blood plasma. Contaminants detected in shovelnose sturgeon at concentrations of concern included PCBs, selenium, and atrazine. Total PCBs in carcasses (n = …

Pond Production, Bartholomew W. Green, C. Bauer Duke Iii

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Management strategies for production of tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) in earthen or lined ponds range from chemical and/or organic fertilization only to intensive feeding. Pond water quality for each strategy is discussed. Strategies to optimize standing stock management during grow-out are presented.