Category Archives: Conservation

Who Tags Paddlefish for Management Study?

MDC tags paddlefish for management study
from The Fishing Wire
Some natural reproduction found in Truman Lake and Mississippi River

Kansas City, Mo. – Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) biologists will be on the water this fall and winter capturing and tagging paddlefish. The tags, with help from paddlefish anglers, are part of a five-year research project aimed at maintaining a quality paddlefish fishery for anglers. Biologists are also studying natural reproduction in some waters and have determined that some paddlefish spawning is occurring.

MDC crews will be netting and tagging paddlefish this winter for a five-year study to maintain Missouri’s high-quality fishery for the popular sport fish. This is the second year for the study at Lake of the Ozarks, Harry S., Truman Lake, Table Rock Lake and the Mississippi River. The study is aided by anglers reporting information from tags. These fish were netted and tagged in March, 2015.

Tagging Paddlefish

Photos by Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation

Missouri’s primary paddlefish waters are Harry S. Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and the Mississippi River. Biologists netted, tagged and released 2,768 paddlefish in those waters prior to the spring, 2015, snagging season. The fish were weighed, measured and given ID jaw tags. Anglers reported tags to MDC, enabling biologists to track fish movement and survival. Anglers reported 234 tags last spring, and 129 of those fish were caught in the upper end of Truman Lake, said Trish Yasger, MDC fisheries management biologist.

The paddlefish snagging season during spring is popular with many anglers. The cartilaginous fish are also called spoonbill because of their long, flat snouts. They feed on plankton and can reach seven feet in length and weigh 160 pounds or more.

The fisheries in Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake are supported by stocking young paddlefish hatched and raised in MDC’s Blind Pony Hatchery. Dams have flooded blocked spawning migrations and flooded natural spawning areas on the Osage River system that feeds Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lake. Paddlefish were introduced by MDC in the James River arm of Table Rock Lake as a new opportunity for anglers. Paddlefish find ample food and grow well as they cruise the large reservoirs feeding on plankton. They make upstream spawning runs in spring, and anglers snag them where they congregate.

Research in 2015 included a study to investigate whether natural reproduction was occurring in Truman Lake. Biologists inserted small 4-inch transmitters into 100 large paddlefish netted and released in the lake. Stationary receivers monitored their movements in the lake’s upper arm and tributaries. In April, 84 percent of the monitored fish moved upstream of Osceola in the Osage River arm. The monitors showed 66 percent of them moving upstream of MDC’s Taberville Access in St. Clair County. Also, 52 percent of the monitored paddlefish moved further upstream and passed the MDC Old Town Access in Bates County on the Marias des Cygnes River, a primary tributary of the Osage system.

MDC crews sampled for paddlefish eggs and larvae at gravel bars in the upstream areas. A limited number of embryos and larvae were collected above MDC’s Taberville Access boat ramp on the Osage River. Several years ago, paddlefish larvae were also collected in the Marais des Cygnes River, Yasger said.

“We are not sure how much natural reproduction is occurring, if it even happens every year, or if the young actually recruit to harvestable size,” Yasger said. “We have a great paddlefish fishery and don’t believe that the limited natural reproduction is enough to sustain it, so we will continue stocking to maintain the population.”

Still, she said it is heartening that natural reproduction is still occurring in the Osage River system considering that dams block spawning migration paths, historical spawning grounds are flooded, land use changes have affected hydrology and water quality, and the Bates County Drainage Ditch built in the early 1900s cut miles off the Marais des Cygnes River’s channel.

“It’s amazing, the fish are still finding a way,” Yasger said.

MDC fishery crews on the Mississippi River using trawling to sample fish populations also have collected paddlefish larvae. Natural paddlefish reproduction is occurring somewhere along Missouri’s eastern border. In 2016, MDC crews will implant transmitters and track 70 paddlefish to monitor spawning in the Mississippi River and tributaries.

For more information on paddlefish in Missouri, visit http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/paddlefish.

Harvesting Blue Catfish on Chesapeake

Electrofishing’s stunning success in harvesting blue catfish on Chesapeake raises concerns

Technique is highly effective, but impact on other species not fully known

By Karl Blankenship, Editor
Bay Journal
www.bayjournal.com
from The Fishing Wire

Catching catfish

Brent Murphy, the mate aboard Rocky Rice’s boat, checks the tankful of blue catfish he and Rice caught in fish pots in the Potomac River. Some fishermen, including Rice, are interested in the potential for electrofishing to increase their harvests. (Dave Harp)

For years, George Trice watched as blue catfish numbers on the James River grew, while his blue crab catches dwindled.

The James is filled with huge numbers of catfish that are “eating the whole river up” including the crabs, the Poquoson-based waterman said.

So Trice, as he puts it, is working to get even. He does that by sticking two electrodes into the river and sending a low-frequency electric jolt through the water.

All around, stunned blue catfish pop to the surface, and Trice and his crew dip them out of the water in almost unfathomable numbers. His catches can routinely hit 6,000 pounds a day.

“The only limiting factor is what the truck will carry away,” Trice said.

Last year, he caught 170,000 pounds of blue catfish, and he expected to more than double that to 400,000 pounds by the time he pulls his electrodes out of the water in early October.

Electrofishing isn’t a normal method of commercial harvest, but Trice has a research permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and is working with scientists from the Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to determine the potential of the technique to help control the rampant population of nonnative blue catfish. A grant from Virginia Sea Grant helped him purchase the equipment.

But the unconventional fishing technique has drawn the ire of some recreational anglers on the river, who prize large blue catfish. And while the VMRC has allowed him use the gear in tidal waters, where it licenses commercial fishing, another state agency is worried about the practice.

Biologists with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries say electrofishing may have unforeseen consequences for other species in the river. While the VMRC licenses the gear, the DGIF sets catch limits for blue catfish. Right now, though, the only limit is one blue catfish larger than 32 pounds a day.

Most of the fish Trice — and other commercial fishermen — catch are small, weighing only a few pounds, so there is no limit. And there’s ample demand. “There’s people competing over them,” Trice said. “The market is definitely there.”

But DGIF staff, worried about potential consequences, are preparing a recommendation that opposes the use of electrofishing for blue catfish harvests, said Bob Greenlee, a DGIF fisheries biologist who has been working with blue catfish for years.

Greenlee said that outside a couple of counties in North Carolina, “there is no where else that I know of where electrofishing is allowed to used by anyone other than fisheries professionals.”

Biologists have long used high-frequency electrofishing, which essentially stuns everything in the water — and can be dangerous to people — to conduct fish surveys in rivers and streams.

But catfish can be stunned with less-intense, low-frequency electrofishing, which provides a mild jolt barely felt by humans. Biologists have used the technique for years to work with catfish.

When Trice shocks a section of the river, all that pops up in the surrounding water are catfish — primarily blue catfish but also flathead and white catfish. Two-man crews in two chase boats quickly go to work with dip nets to scoop fish out of the water. After about two minutes, the fish recover and begin to swim away.

Because only catfish come to the surface, the crews can selectively dip only blue catfish out of the water.

“It is a really clean fishery,” Trice said. “I have commercially fished since I graduated in ’90, and this is the best way I see to do it. You don’t have any bycatch. You don’t kill anything you don’t want.”

But there are limitations to the equipment. It can only be used in low-salinity water. Much of the lower James River — and the blue catfish living there — are off-limits to Trice. Also, water temperatures have to at least be in the low 70s for it to work, so his fishing season is limited to about four months.

Greenlee said those limitations raise questions about whether electrofishing is actually increasing the overall harvest, or simply giving Trice a technological edge over other fishermen who work the same areas day after day. Other commercial fishermen have complained that electrofishing is reducing their blue catfish harvest, Greenlee said.

But multiple fisherman may not be able to use the electrofishing gear in the same river. Trice said the fish begin to get tolerant if he shocks the same area more than once, so he has to keep moving from place to place, typically revisiting an area only after a couple of weeks. Sometimes he takes a break from the James altogether and uses the gear on the Pamunkey River.

“It is not going to be the only way to harvest blue catfish because of those limitations, but it is incredibly efficient,” said Greg Garman, director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Environmental Studies, and one of the scientists involved with the project. “We think there is a huge potential here.”

Garman said electrofishing might be especially useful in smaller rivers with ecologically important species that biologists want to protect. It would be too expensive to pay biologists to try to control blue catfish populations in those places, he said, but it might make sense to let commercial fishermen do the job — and make some money.

“It’s not going to solve all of the problems out there overnight, but it could be part of the solution to a couple of problems,” Garman said.

Greenlee, though, said it’s not clear that electrofishing itself isn’t causing a problem, or that only catfish are affected. During thier own work, he said, DGIF biologists have observed other species affected by low frequence electrofishing, including longnose gar, common carp and gizzard shad.

While only catfish rise to the surface, he said other species, such as Atlantic sturgeon, sink to the bottom and therefore go unseen. “That is a question that is of concern, particularly with Atlantic sturgeon,” Greenlee said. Atlantic sturgeon are an endangered species.

Even if it did not harm a sturgeon directly, he said, it could have other impacts, such as causing them to abandon a spawning run.

Garman said he is skeptical that the electrofishing is having a signficant impact on other species, but said research should continue. “I hope the agencies can wait long enough so they can make decision based on good fisheries science,” he said.

Laurie Naismith, spokeswoman for the VMRC, said the commission would also like to see the electrofishing research continue. “We are eager to see what the research shows about using this methodology, because something has got to be done,” she said. “We have to somehow get control of the blue catfish population.”

Greenlee said his department does support a commercial blue catfish harvest — just not one that uses electrofishing. In fact, he said ramped-up fishing could actually be beneficial.

The James River only a few years ago was a hot spot for trophy blue catfish, some of which reached 100 pounds. But the river has become so overwhelmed with catfish that it has exceeded it carrying capacity and large fish have become scarce.

Instead of producing large trophy fish, it is increasingly filled with slow-growing small catfish, all competing for a limited food supply, rather than the large trophy size fish prized by many recreational anglers.

“If we can harvest enough small fish and get them out of there, there is that potential for the trophy fishery to sustain itself at a higher level,” Greenlee said.

About Karl Blankenship
Karl Blankenship is editor of the Bay Journal and Executive Director of Chesapeake Media Service. He has served as editor of the Bay Journal since its inception in 1991. Read more stories like this at www.bayjournal.com.

What Is the Real Alabama Red Snapper Tally?

Alabama Red Snapper Tally 56 Percent less than Feds Report

EDITOR’s NOTE: Today’s feature, written by Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ David Rainer, is yet another example of the continuing conflict between the five states that comprise the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and federal authorities when it comes to managing the Gulf’s fisheries. As you’ll read, the results don’t seem to surprise anyone- but the fight continues.
from The Fishing Wire

As many Alabama offshore anglers will attest, the results from the red snapper catch data is the same old song, second verse.

When the mandatory Red Snapper Reporting System was implemented for the 2014 season, the Alabama Marine Resources Division had a pretty good idea that the catch numbers compiled by the NOAA Fisheries was significantly inflated. The catch data for the 9-day 2014 season reported through Alabama’s “Snapper Check” was 455,522 pounds, while the feds estimated the catch at a whopping 1,227,469 pounds.

The discrepancy between the Alabama red snapper catch data and the federal catch data was recently confirmed with the 2015 numbers.

Keep in mind the 2015 season was different because of sector separation. The private recreational anglers had a 10-day season. The charter boats with a federal reef fish permit were allowed to fish 44 days.

Still, the discrepancy was significant. The federal catch estimate was 2,355,481 pounds. Marine Resources estimated the catch off Alabama at 56 percent less than the federal estimate at 1,045,042. The average-size red snapper landed was more than 8 pounds.

“We continued the Red Snapper Reporting Program for a second year to compare it to the federal MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program),” said Chris Blankenship, Director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division. “Last year, the results showed that Alabama caught about two-and-a-half times less red snapper than the federal government estimated we caught.

“Where that’s important is the quota is set before the season, and that’s how they determine the number of days for the season. If they are overestimating what’s been landed, our snapper season potentially could have been two-and-a-half times longer if they had used Alabama’s information.”

Red Snapper

Anglers who pursue red snapper off the Alabama Gulf Coast have had no problem at all landing nice red snapper during the short seasons (above). Ongoing research on the red snapper population off of Alabama indicates a healthy, vibrant stock (Below). Photos by David Rainer, with permission.

Red Snapper Research

Blankenship said even though the parameters changed because of the sector separation, Marine Resources was interested to see if that discrepancy between Alabama numbers and federal numbers would be similar for 2015.

“This year, the federal program estimated there was more than twice the number of red snapper landed than what the Alabama program estimated,” he said.

The reason Blankenship is confident in the Alabama numbers is because of the collection of data through the mandatory Red Snapper Reporting Program and the deployment of Marine Resources personnel to conduct checks at the public boat ramps and marinas, as well as on-the-water checks by enforcement personnel.

“We end up with a correction factor for the ones that were not reported,” he said. “We use that to come up with the final numbers. It’s a much less complicated system than what the federal government uses, and we feel ours is much more accurate.

“We have cameras at the public boat launches; we do vessel counts on how many boats launched during red snapper season. We do this to compare the numbers used by the Alabama reporting program or the MRIP data. What we found was the number of vessels launched very closely corresponds with what the Alabama red snapper program reported. We think that is important validation for our program.”

Blankenship also said the MRIP system is still using a telephone survey of coastal households and extrapolating the data.

“It’s obvious to us when we look at the results from that telephone survey that they are overestimating the amount of effort, the number of fishing trips for the state of Alabama,” Blankenship said. “We are attempting to work with the MRIP team to see what’s causing the difference in data.

“They have been very anxious to see how we have calculated our results from the Alabama Snapper Check, but they have not been as open to show how they come up with their numbers. We’re trying to work through those difficulties. We don’t have anything to hide. We are glad to show how our system works and how we came up with our numbers. It’s not complicated, and we feel it’s very accurate. We want to be able to look under the hood of the MRIP program, and we think it will help them develop a more accurate estimate of the catch, not only in Alabama but nationwide.”

Blankenship said one example of MRIP data that cannot be accurate came from Mississippi.

“When you look at the landings on the NOAA MRIP website for the private recreational season in Mississippi and the federal estimate of their catch, for the 10-day red snapper season in June, the federal MRIP system estimated there was not a single red snapper landed in the state of Mississippi,” Blankenship said. “So in Alabama, the feds estimated we caught more than 2 million pounds of red snapper, and in Mississippi, they estimated they caught zero red snapper during the same time period. This just shows the MRIP system obviously has some flaws.

“That’s why we feel it is so important for the feds to use numbers from Alabama Snapper Check because our numbers are much more accurate.”

The current federal quota for the recreational sector has a 20-percent buffer built in to account for overages. Blankenship said the best way to get rid of that ridiculously large buffer is to have more accurate catch data.

“The best way to get that 20-percent buffer back is to have regional management for either a portion of the quota or true management of red snapper where we do the stock assessment and set the quota,” he said. “We feel like with regional management we can get more days for the private recreational anglers and more days for the charter boats.”

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is considering Amendment 39 that would give the five Gulf States regional management of the red snapper fishery.

A public hearing on the amendment was held in Mobile Tuesday night. The full Gulf Council will consider Amendment 39 at its next meeting, which is scheduled for January 25-29, 2016, at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Ala.

“The reason Amendment 39 is important is evident in our red snapper reporting numbers,” said Blankenship. “Alabama currently supports Amendment 39 because we feel like we can do a much better job managing this red snapper fishery than is currently being done by the federal government and get our anglers more days to fish.”

Blankenship said Marine Resources is in the process of doing a stock assessment off the coast of Alabama and will hopefully have the results by the end of the year. The early numbers look good.

“The snapper stock seems to be very healthy even after the season,” he said. “Whether we caught a million pounds as Alabama estimates or 2.3 million pounds as the federal government estimates, we’ve been out there doing research since the season ended.

“I can say there is no shortage of legal-size red snapper off the coast of Alabama.”

—DAVID RAINER, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Fish on Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound

“Bugging” the Fish on Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound

Today’s feature comes to us from David Rainer of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
from The Fishing Wire

Hydrophone locations in Alabama

Mobile Bay and the Mississippi Sound are bugged, but the listening devices aren’t snooping to hear the inshore anglers’ big-fish tales or locate their favorite fishing holes.

The microphones, known as hydrophones, are strategically positioned around the Bay and Sound to listen for the fish themselves – a select group of fish.

In a study sanctioned by the Alabama Marine Resources Division (MRD), several inshore fish are being fitted with sonic devices that will be picked up by the hydrophones to get a better idea of where and how much they travel during the year.

Chris Blankenship, MRD Director, said the project is in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, which has hydrophone stations on the west side of Mississippi Sound.

“This should give us a better picture of the movement of those inshore fish,” Blankenship said. “It started as a tarpon project because that’s Alabama’s state saltwater fish, but we had very little information about the movement of tarpon in our area. Once the hydrophones were out, we had the opportunity to include other species, so we added red drum (redfish) and spotted seatrout (speckled trout) to learn about those fish movements at the same time.

“The interesting thing is that for any fish with an acoustic tag that we pick up, we share that information. Like sturgeon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has tagged some sturgeon in some of the creeks and rivers in Florida. Occasionally, we’ll pick up some of those fish in our array, and we’ll share that with the people who are gathering data on those fish.”

Dr. Sean Powers and the University of South Alabama Marine Sciences Department are conducting the study, which has been dubbed CAAMP, the Coastal Alabama Acoustic Monitoring Program. There is an array of 40 listening stations with hydrophones strategically placed around Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound.

“The hydrophones were placed around the bay to cover the entry and exit points of fish, and in this instance, we’re talking about a red drum or speckled trout,” Powers said. “We have all the rivers covered in the (Mobile/Tensaw) Delta. We have a string of them along the Causeway, at Fowl River and Dog River. We also have them in Mississippi Sound.

“Our colleagues in Mississippi and Florida are using same type hydrophones, and we share data. So although we only cover Alabama with our 40 hydrophones, we have partnerships that cover the Gulf from Louisiana to Tampa.”

The hydrophones are designed to pick up acoustic signals with unique codes that identify individual fish. The acoustic tag sends a series of sound pulses in a few seconds. The hydrophone interprets that signal and identifies the fish. If it was a fish from Alabama, the identification of the fish gives researchers data on where the fish was tagged and where it was located when the signal was picked up at different times. If the hydrophone identifies an unknown code, the other states involved in the program are notified.

Inserting probe into fish

Each fish in the study is caught by researchers or other anglers and the small tag is attached.

“We do a little surgery on the fish,” Powers said. “We insert a little tag. It’s about half the size of a AAA battery. Sound travels really well in saltwater, so we don’t need that big of an amplifier. A little tag can do a whole lot. It sends that pulse out every minute. The tags will last a year. When it swims within 500 meters of a hydrophone, the signal is picked up and will tell us the fish was alive in that location. With our array of hydrophones and collaboration with the other states, we get good information on movement of fish, the seasonal movement of fish.”

The Mobile/Tensaw Delta and its role in the movement of inshore species is of particular interest to the researchers. Typically, the inshore species follow the migration of shrimp and other food sources into the rivers and creeks in the fall, depending somewhat on water salinity and flow.

“One thing we’re really interested in is how the saltwater fish use that Delta – when, and potentially why, they use that Delta area,” Powers said. “Although we have hydrophones all around the Bay, it’s a little more weighted toward the Delta, Fowl River and Dog River.”

The acoustic study is being done in stages, according to species. The first year is red drum. Powers said about 100 redfish have already been tagged.

Bugged fish released

“That was the fun part,” he said. “We went out and tagged them all around the Bay, some in the Delta and some off Fairhope, some off Bon Secour and some off Dauphin Island.

“What we will get is very important information on movement, and we’ll get important information on survivorship. We know how many fished we tagged. We have rewards so fishermen can call the information in to us if they catch one. That way we’ll be able to tell how many survived.”

That rate of survival, or escapement, plays a crucial role in the management of red drum, Powers said. Current management models are based on 30-percent escapement.

“What that means is 30 percent survive to go offshore and spawn,” he said. “The fish we tagged are within the state slot limit of 16 to 26 inches. What we would like to see is verification that at least 30 percent of those survive.”

The red drum study will be expanded next year with different parameters. Half the fish tagged will be wild fish, and half will be fished raised at the Marine Resources Division’s Claude Peteet Mariculture Center in Gulf Shores.

“We’re really interested to see if there is a difference in movement in wild red drum versus hatchery-raised red drum,” Blankenship said.

Speckled trout will be added to the study in year three; however, several speckled trout that were part of the live weigh-in for the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo were tagged and released as well. Powers said the species for years four and five are undecided but could include flounder and/or sheepshead.

Before CAAMP came into existence, Powers said a tarpon study had been underway for a couple of years.

“We worked with fishermen on the tarpon, because you’ve got to be pretty good to catch a tarpon,” he said. “We tagged about a dozen tarpon, and we’ve also got satellite tags on a couple of fish that will pop off and float. We also have one receiver off Gulf State Park Pier, so we expect to hear a few tarpon ticking off Gulf State Pier.”

Powers said the information from the hydrophones is downloaded about every six months.

“Sometime next year we should have some good information,” he said. “We know that we’ve already heard from some of the tarpon and some of the red drum. The good thing about the red drum tags is some of the freshwater folks have receivers out to listen for sturgeon, and they’ve already heard some of our redfish up in the rivers.”

PHOTOS: (Crystal Hightower, tarpon by Andrea Kroetz) As part of the CAAMP array, hydrophones are stationed in Alabama coastal waters to pick up the signals from the tagged fish to study seasonal movements and escapement rates. A small acoustic device is inserted by Reid Nelson into the body cavity of the red drum in the study. Larger tags are attached near the dorsal fin on tarpon.

Who Pays for Conservation?

Anglers, Hunters and Boaters Pay for Conservation
Now you know who pays for conservation

By Cliff Schleusner
from The Fishing Wire

Salmon

Early autumn in the Southwest may be the best time of year for anglers and hunters. Upland bird seasons are in full swing, waterfowl are on their way back south perhaps to intersect with you on a duck marsh somewhere. It’s not too cold to catch trout in the high country while elk bugle beyond the next aspen glade.

All of these pursuits have something in common, aside from the obvious. As a hunter and angler and boater you are paying for conservation. Next time you gas up your boat, buy a spool of 10-lb test monofilament fishing line, or a box of bird load for your 12-gauge pump, keep this in mind: a portion of what you pull out of your wallet is invested back into conservation.

Here’s how. Two acts of Congress, laws originally enacted in 1937 and 1950, laid the path for a user pay-user benefit system where the end outcome is improved hunting and fishing and boating. While your hunting and fishing licenses help pay for the wonderful work performed by biologists, conservation officers, and support staff in you state game and fish department, a tax on your sporting goods takes your commitment to conservation a step further.

Manufacturers and importers of firearms, ammo, archery gear, boats and motors and fuel, and fishing gear pay excise taxes to the federal government. That tax is passed on to you in the price you pay at the cash register. That little bit extra is held in trust by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. That money is reapportioned in grants back to state agencies, but with a catch; the money must be used on projects that benefit fish and wildlife in some measure, boating access or research and education.

These recent projects exemplify the benefits accrued to hunters and anglers and boaters in the Southwest.

Arizona:

Arizonans are rightfully proud of their world-class Ben Avery Shooting Facility in north Phoenix. More than 120,000 shooters of all ages use it each year. It is home to regional- and national-class shooting competitions. Hunters hone their skills there and young shooters might pull their first trigger on the firing line with trained safety officers nearby.

A new boat ramp, parking area and access road brought quality striped bass and white bass fishing within reach of anglers in the Agua Fria arm of Lake Pleasant after a seven-year closure. What is fish habitat is also attractive to nesting bald eagles in spring. To overcome a conflict in protecting the birds, the Arizona Game and Fish Department made the site accessible to anglers willing to travel to the remote area.

New Mexico:

Ram

Prescribed burns and forest thinning in the Guadalupe Mountains by Lincoln National Forest personnel improved habitat for Merriam’s turkey. Along with new water catchments, the area is now expected to hold more wildlife. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) trapped 47 wild turkeys near Cimarron, New Mexico, and released them in the Guadalupe Mountains. The delicate and labor-intensive operation returned native New Mexican wildlife back into its former natural range.

Anglers and boaters should be pleased to know that Lake Roberts, nestled in the Gila National Forest, now has an improved dam and spillway. The renovated structure is more secure ensuring that fish habitat remains intact, and that anglers continue to enjoy quality trout fishing in the prettiest of places. The fishery is managed by the NMDGF.

Texas:

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) used Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration dollars at the Sea Center Texas, at Lake Jackson; CCA Marine Development Center, Corpus Christi; and the Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station in Palacios, Texas. Scientists there research and raise red drum, spotted seatrout and southern flounder—sport fish species important to the economy and coastal ecology. The red drum population in Texas bays has rebounded to near-record highs. Red drum are stocked in nine bays along the Texas coast.

Anglers can get to those red drum easier, too, thanks to other work completed by TPWD. Fish cleaning stations, boat ramps, lighted parking areas and restrooms built on the Mission River and Copano Bay access points near Gulf waters improved boating.

Oklahoma:

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) recently used Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration dollars at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees near Tulsa, improving boat ramps, docks, lighting and fish cleaning stations. It will be the site of the hugely popular Bassmaster Classic in 2016.

And there’s the Grady County Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Rush Springs, Oklahoma. This year the ODWC built two ponds for fish and waterfowl. The 1,036-acre woodland and tall-grass prairie WMA already supports deer, turkey and rabbits. Public access was enhanced with a road and fencing.

All of these projects, making a real difference on the ground and in the water, were funded by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program—that is, funded by you—hunters and anglers and boaters.

It’s your wildlife, your public lands. We as Americans are fortunate in that our natural resources are held in trust, for us, by us. I hope that you will be encouraged to get outdoors now and in the future and that you take some pleasure in knowing that you are paying your way. Take someone with you, too, so that you can have the full measure of joy outdoors.

Cliff Schleusner is an ardent angler and hunter, and Chief of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Southwest Region. He is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. See www.fws.gov/southwest/federal_assistance

Wildlife Photography in Wildlife Refuges

A Lens on Nature: Four Ace Photographers and the Wildlife Refuges They Love

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you love wildlife photography, you’ll enjoy this story from the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife Services.
from The Fishing Wire

Logos

Wait! Think before you aim that camera at a national wildlife refuge. It may be habit-forming. That’s been true for four standout nature photographers – each hooked on prowling a favorite refuge in hopes of locking eyes with a bird or fox, capturing light and color, and probing the mystery of our animal natures.

All four photographers – April Allyson Abel at Prime Hook Refuge, Delaware; Quincey Banks at Eufala Refuge, Alabama; Marvin De Jong at Bosque del Apache Refuge, New Mexico; and Mia McPherson at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah – say photo opportunities abound on refuges.

“Why are national wildlife refuges great places to take wildlife photos?” asks De Jong. “The obvious answer is because there’s wildlife there. There’s an emphasis on wildlife. But it’s more than that. You frequently have good access to animals and birds. You have a wildlife trail or a road. That’s the great thing about Bosque del Apache Refuge. You can stand on the road and have sandhill cranes being themselves just 15 yards away.”

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.

Adds McPherson, “Wildlife refuges are just amazing. That’s where the habitat is. It’s refuges’ job to manage [them]…and they do an excellent job of it.”

National wildlife refuges, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are part of Americas’ rich natural heritage. They have been so since 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island, Florida.

National wildlife refuges offer chances to see an almost unparalleled array of wildlife, including many of the nation’s most beloved and spectacular species. Wildlife photography brings individuals and families close to nature, which research has shown to be physically and emotionally beneficial. Find a refuge near you: www.fws.gov/refuges.

April Allyson Abel

If you want to see the world through April Abel’s eyes, rise early. You want to beat the sun to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge on the Delaware coast so you’re in place when the light show begins. “There are two kinds of people in this world,” laughs Abel. “There’s the kind who say, ‘You’re gonna shoot at sunrise again?’ and the kind who say, ‘Can I come with you?'”

On a frosty March morning, she patrols the bank of a refuge impoundment in a thermal vest and jeans (no jacket, no gloves) and trains her lens on the herons and avocets feeding in the shallows. A heron snags an eel, shakes it, then downs it. “Got it,” says Abel, like a sportscaster offering color commentary on a play. “Now a little sip of water to finish it off.”

She keeps shooting as the sun rises through the clouds, turning the indigo sky to purple and orange. The refuge, she says, “is just so beautiful, and the still water makes a mirror for the birds.”

Abel took up digital photography at age 40 after a life change, spending a year documenting the seasons at Prime Hook marsh. She worked freelance as a writer and photographer. Her stories and photos appeared in local newspapers and magazines, and she began racking up photo prizes. Today, she works as exhibits coordinator for Delaware State Parks.

A favorite photo she took at Prime Hook shows a heron about to close its open bill on a tiny fish, for a moment suspended in mid-air. “I watched the heron fishing for about 10, 15 minutes. It caught one fish after another, tossing them back like a kid eating popcorn. I kept shooting frame after frame, and this one showed the fish perfectly balanced mid-air, about to be eaten.”

When it’s too cold in winter for even her to shoot, Abel knows what to do: “spend time learning about bird species and habitat. So you learn what to anticipate in the way of bird behavior and can get a better shot.”

Quincey Banks

Eighteen years ago, Quincey Banks was photographing his son in Eufala, Alabama, when the toddler balked. “He started saying ‘no’ when I was trying to take pictures of him running around the house. So the next best thing was to go take pictures of stuff I saw outside,” says Banks.

He began taking his camera when he went hunting. Then, to get close-ups of wood ducks, he built a floating blind of Styrofoam covered with brush. Launching it before dawn, he waited beneath it, wet and shivering with cold.

The discomfort paid off. “You go from spooking the birds to having them within 30 or 40 feet. And for a wildlife photographer, to get a wild animal such as a wood duck within 30 feet, that’s nirvana. I mean that’s just crazy. From that point on, I was hooked. … I didn’t care about anything except photographing those birds.”

For Bank, nature photography is about “being outside and seeing what God made. Every time I go out and do nature photography, there’s always something different to see.”

He likes Eufala National Wildlife Refuge for its wide range of habitats and species, from wading birds to bobcats. “The refuge has so many different land types within that 19,000-acre area that I can photograph almost any type of animal that I might see in Alabama.”

He tells beginning photographers: “Learn as much about the animal you’re trying to photograph as you possibly can. A good nature photographer is also a good naturalist. …If you know how the animal is gonna act, or where it’s gonna be, it’s easier to be prepared to get that photograph when it happens.”

Marvin De Jong

What does Marvin De Jong like most about wildlife photography?

“It’s satisfying. It’s challenging. Birds are especially challenging because they don’t just sit and look at you. It’s a lot more exciting than wedding photography.”

“My first priority is to get an animal in [a photo],” he says. “I like a photo to tell a story. It’s good if there’s some action. If I can get a green heron catching a minnow that tells you a little story about the bird. If I can get the bird singing with its mouth open, taking off, landing,” he says, that heightens a viewer’s interest.

De Jong turned to photography in retirement. He and his wife were already volunteering at wildlife refuges such as Santa Ana in Texas and Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. “I like the outdoors. I like birds. They sort of came together.”

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is his favorite refuge for wildlife photography. “I like things to be in the air. Flying birds are better than birds standing out in the water. And New Mexico is a great place for some of best sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen. The cranes fly out in the morning and fly back in the evening, so that’s when you’re going to be out there.”

Quick thinking helped him snag a favorite refuge shot. He’d just stepped out of the car when suddenly “there was this bobcat. Unfortunately, the camera’s in the car. So I opened the car door and of course immediately you get the noise alerting you the keys are in the ignition…I grabbed the camera, and I had it on the bobcat, but he was going away, so I was gonna get a butt shot. And so I said, ‘Hey, cat.’ He turned and looked at me, and that’s when I got the shot.”

“You’ve got to get the eyes of the animal. If you don’t have the eyes, you don’t have a photo.”

Mia McPherson

Utah resident Mia McPherson took up bird and nature photography in 2004 to heal from a personal loss and illness. Snapping nature photos was a natural extension of activities she loved.

“I like to be out in nature, listen to the birds, be exposed to different types of habitats,” says McPherson. “It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. I just relax and enjoy myself.” She honed her skill enough that two of her photos were chosen for a National Geographic pocket guide to birds of North America.

Nature photography isn’t easy. “You have to have a lot of patience,” says McPherson. “You can sit for an hour or two waiting for a particular bird behavior. Thirty seconds one way or another could make the different between a good shot and a great shot. Dealing with the elements is an issue, too. In summer, it gets very hot and buggy. In the winter, it gets extremely cold. Making sure you don’t get stuck in a snowbank: that’s a challenge, too.”

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, an hour and a half from her home, is among her favorite places to shoot.

“They have a spectacular auto tour route where you can drive around water impoundment area and see all kinds of birds from short eared owls and northern harriers to waterfowl and shorebirds.

“In summer it’s inundated with nesting shorebirds. One of the most spectacular sights is watching American white pelicans feed. In winter, the calls of thousands and thousands of tundra swans echo all over the place. It’s a magical sound.”

A favorite shot of hers shows two western grebes skating across water at Bear River Refuge. “That’s called rushing and that’s their courtship display.” The birds go through a preliminary ritual “so you can say, okay, okay, there’s going to be a rush now. But it’s definitely a challenge to get the photo because this routine they go through doesn’t always end in rushing. So you have to wait and wait and wait. And hopefully they will rush, but they don’t always. A car might come by or a raptor fly over, and that ends it for them.”

Video: https://youtu.be/bcUaUfWAo78
A Lens on Nature: April Abel Photographs National Wildlife Refuges

Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/sets/72157656107514654
A Lens on Nature: Four ace photographers and the national wildlife refuges they love.

Tips on wildlife photography: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/photography/

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Tour A Wisconsin Salmon Hatchery

Wisconsin DNR sets open house events and tours at egg collection facilities in Racine, Kewaunee, Sturgeon Bay. You can tour a Wisconsin salmon hatchery.
from The Fishing Wire

MADISON — Up and down the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan, chinook salmon are staging for the biggest race of their lives – a final run to spawn in rivers including the Root in Racine, Kewaunee in Kewaunee County and Strawberry Creek in Door County.

Workers at DNR’s Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility

Workers at DNR’s Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility outside Sturgeon Bay crowd salmon in a pen before spawning.
WDNR Photo

When the time is right – likely starting in the next week or so – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff will be there waiting to collect eggs and milt used in producing the next generation of fish for Lake Michigan stocking.

Visitors will be able to see the action firsthand at open house events at the C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Root River Steelhead Facility on Saturday, Oct. 10. At the Strawberry Creek facility, another key source for chinook salmon eggs, visitors are welcome during daylight hours.

“What started in the 1960s as an effort to control alewife populations by stocking Pacific salmon has turned into a sport fishery that generates some $4 billion per year for the economy of the Great Lakes region,” said Justine Hasz, DNR fisheries bureau director. “Each year the fall spawning runs are a reminder of how our stocking efforts contribute to this economic impact by creating recreational opportunities for anglers of all ages. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our open houses where they can learn more about our fisheries management and propagation efforts.”

The open house events at Besadny and Root River feature egg collection demonstrations as well as fly casting and tying lessons, youth instruction and opportunities to learn Lake Michigan fishing tips from expert anglers. The Besadny open house features an opportunity to sponsor tagged fingerling sturgeon and participate in the river release of these young fish.

Mike Baumgartner, who supervises the Besadny facility in Kewaunee, said based on reports of salmon staging near the mouth of the river, he expects a strong run of fish again this year.

“Visitors can expect great viewing along the banks of the river, a fish-eye perspective through the underwater windows and a look at egg collection through a window in the processing area,” Baumgartner said. “We’ll also offer guided tours of the facility, fish print t-shirt making and fishing lessons along with other activities. Visitors can park in a lot down the road and walk or take the horse and wagon ride to get here. It should be a great day.”

The open house events are free and open to the public with food and beverages available from local groups as well as guided facility tours and activities geared to youth. Trails and paths near the facilities offer opportunities for families to explore the river environment and enjoy wildlife and bird viewing.

The Oct. 3 event at the Besadny facility in Kewaunee runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facility, on the Kewaunee River, was built in 1989-1990 and collects eggs from chinook and coho salmon as well as brown and steelhead or rainbow trout for rearing in a series of ponds. A processing building featuring a lobby with displays and a public viewing window was completed in 1996.

The Oct. 10 event at the Root River facility in Racine also runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facility was built in 1993-1994 along the Root River by DNR in partnership with the Salmon Unlimited fishing club. It serves as a significant source of coho salmon, steelhead and brown trout eggs and plays an important role in the collection of biological data relating to overall fish health, growth rates, migration patterns and other data. In addition, DNR crews collect seeforellen brown trout from the river in November to ensure the ability to stock this important strain in the future.

Fisheries staff members anticipate processing fish at the third egg collection facility, the Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility outside Sturgeon Bay, on Oct. 5, 8, 12, 15 and 19.

The fall egg collection marks the start of DNR’s propagation process. The eggs will be hatched and raised at DNR facilities until they are ready for stocking at about four months for chinook and at one and a half years for coho, steelhead and brown trout. The different species are stocked according to the stage in their lifecycle at which naturally reproducing fish would normally leave the tributaries to live in Lake Michigan. That stage is much earlier for chinook.

To learn more, visit dnr.wi.gov and search “fisheries open house.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Baumgartner, C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility supervisor, [email protected], 920-388-1025; John Komassa, DNR southeast hatchery group section chief, [email protected], 608-275-3315; Brad Eggold, DNR Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor, [email protected], 414-382-7921; Bob Fahey, DNR fisheries operations supervisor, Root River, 608-275-3251, [email protected]; Jennifer Sereno, DNR communications, [email protected], 608-770-8084.

Would A Hammerhead Shark Travel Widely?

Would a Tagged Hammerhead Shark Travel Widely”
from The Fishing Wire

Smooth Hammerhead Shark

Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena), Nine Mile Bank, San Diego, California.
Credit: Richard Herrmann/NOAA
The first hammerhead shark fitted with a satellite tracking tag off Southern California has traveled more than 1,000 miles to Mexico and back again since NOAA Fisheries researchers tagged it near San Clemente Island about two months ago.

The shark, which is now off Ventura, California, is providing new insight into the great distance hammerheads may cover in search of food, mainly fish and squid. Unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Southern California Bight since last summer has drawn hammerheads north, making them more visible off Southern California.

“The surprising thing we’ve learned from this is just how much they move around within a season,” said Russ Vetter, Senior Scientist at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif. “This one went way down to central Baja and then shot back up here again just to find food, and that is a lot of territory for an animal to cover.”

Hammerheads have been sighted off Southern California more frequently in recent weeks, including one case last weekend where a hammerhead on a fishing line bit the foot of a kayaker reeling it in. While hammerheads are not usually aggressive, scientists warn that caution is warranted around sharks since they can act unpredictably.

Researchers on an annual NOAA shark survey caught the tagged female hammerhead June 30 off San Clemente Island and attached the satellite tag to its distinctive dorsal fin. The satellite position only, or SPOT, tag relays high resolution location data as the animal travels. The shark is known as a smooth hammerhead, one of three types of hammerheads that occur in California waters and also include bonnethead and scalloped hammerheads.

attached a satellite tag to a hammerhead shark

Researchers attached a satellite tag to a hammerhead shark captured in a regular offshore survey June 30. The tag should last two to three years.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries/SWFSC

The smooth hammerhead shark traveled more than 1,000 miles to Mexico and back after it was tagged near San Clemente Island June 30.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries/SWFSC
The tagged shark measured more than seven feet long from its head to the fork of its tail. NOAA Fisheries scientists tagged a smooth hammerhead in the same area in 2008 with a different kind of tag that stores data for a few months and then detaches from the animal.

The shark tagging was conducted in collaboration with the Tagging of Pelagic Predators program.

Hammerhead habits are poorly known and researchers took advantage of the animal’s catch to learn more about its movements ahead of an approaching El Niño climate pattern, which typically boosts water temperatures along the West Coast. Patches of unusually warm water known collectively as “the warm blob” had raised temperatures off Southern California last year prior to El Niño, initially attracting warmer water species such as hammerheads.

shark traveled more than 1,000 miles

The new satellite tag shows that the hammerhead swam more than 400 miles south after its capture to an area off the central Baja Peninsula known for its production of sardines and anchovy, Vetter said. The shark then returned north to an area off Ventura this week.

The sharks’ distinctive hammer-shaped heads carry special sensory features and widely spaced eyes that may help them see and detect prey. The tagged hammerhead mostly hugged the continental shelf along the Pacific Coast but in one case made an open-ocean foray of a few hundred miles off of the Baja Peninsula. Vetter hopes the satellite tag will remain active for two to three years, providing a long-term record of the shark’s movements.

“It’s very interesting to us to see the neighborhoods this shark frequents,” he said. “For an animal to swim all the way to Baja just to see if there’s food suggests its food supply is not super abundant, which tells us something about conditions out there.”

The opportunity to track the shark during a warm El Niño year may provide clues about how hammerhead habitats may shift during gradual warming expected with climate change.

“It’s certainly possible they may spend more time farther north,” Vetter said. “We’ll be very curious to watch how far north this shark goes, which could give us an idea what to expect in the future.”

PETA Loses!

PETA Loses Last-Minute Bid to Block DC-Area Urban Bowhunting
Editor’s Note: Today’s feature first appeared in our companion service, The Archery Wire.
from The Hunting Wire

A judge in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday ruled that the Pilot Archery Managed Deer Hunting Program in two Montgomery County parks could proceed as planned, despite a desperate, last-ditch effort by the notorious and publicity-mongering animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to block the bowhunt through a court order.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Callahan denied a motion filed Thursday, September 10 for a temporary restraining order sought by Bethesda resident and PETA member Eilene Cohhn to stop the managed archery deer hunts approved earlier this year by Montgomery Parks.

Bethesda Magazine reported this week the ruling marked the second setback in two days for PETA’s the effort to derail the archery deer hunt, after seeking an immediate restraining order upon filing the suit Thursday. Judge Callahan refused to issue the order before an initial hearing Friday, at which she formally denied the restraining order.

PETA’s legal attempt served only to temporarily delay the parks hunt, which was originally scheduled to begin Sept. 11, the same day as the regular Maryland archery deer season. As a result, the bowhunts designed to control the problematic deer population were free to commence yesterday (September 15) at sunrise and will run through October 21.

The hunt will mark the first time the parks department, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, will use archers to safely cull the county’s deer population.

The archery program utilizes pre-approved hunters to take part in managed hunts over a combined area of 733 acres in the Watts Branch Stream Valley Park in Potomac and one section of the Great Seneca Valley Stream Park in Germantown. Candidates for the hunting program were required to provide a resume outlining their archery-hunting experience and written, verifiable references. Further, hunters must have completed the Maryland Hunter Education and Safety Course and a National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF) course.

Other participation qualifications included:
– Minimum age of 18 years.
– At least 3 years of archery hunting experience AND harvest records indicating harvest of at least 5 deer with archery equipment.
– Fulfillment of the requirements of a background check.
– Successful completion of Montgomery Parks Archery Shooting Qualification standards (at specified ranges, only).
– Current Maryland Hunting License and Archery Stamp.

Predictably, a statement issued by PETA this week contained the usual handwringing and anthropomorphic references to animals using human terms and pronouns.

“We are extremely disappointed by the ruling and deeply saddened about the fate of the deer, who are Montgomery County’s gentle Cecils. The day will come when human beings must recognize that wild animals have a right to live on their ancestral lands and not be forced out and slaughtered simply for living as they have for generations.”

Here at The Archery Wire, we believe the only thing better than a victory for bowhunting over animal-rights extremists will be the taste of venison loins in Montgomery County, Maryland during the coming weeks.

– J.R. Absher

What Is the Wisconsin Sturgeon Fest?

Wisconsin Sturgeon Fest to Celebrate a Decade of Progress
from The Fishing Wire

MILWAUKEE – Efforts to return lake sturgeon to the Milwaukee River will enter a second decade with growing support and new evidence of progress thanks to a partnership involving the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Riveredge Nature Center and Fund for Lake Michigan, among others.

The efforts will be celebrated at the 10th anniversary of Sturgeon Fest – a free, family oriented event on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lakeshore State Park near the Summerfest grounds. This year’s event includes a free presentation by Scott Sampson, also known as “Dr. Scott,” a dinosaur paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science who serves as host and science adviser of the Emmy‐nominated PBS KIDS series Dinosaur Train.

Lake sturgeon

Lake sturgeon hatched from eggs collected on the Wolf River were raised at a streamside rearing facility operated by Riveredge and DNR so they imprint on the waters of the Milwaukee River.
WDNR Photo

“Lake sturgeon are sometimes referred to as living fossils but despite the 150 million year history of the species, they’ve faced a variety of challenges in modern times,” said Jessica Jens, executive director of Riveredge Nature Center. “In partnership with DNR and the Fund for Lake Michigan, our past decade of work to reintroduce a naturally reproducing population of sturgeon to the Milwaukee River has shown tremendous progress and we are excited to welcome everyone to Sturgeon Fest.”

The event features the opportunity for youth and adults to sponsor and release young sturgeon into Lake Michigan. The fish, hatched from eggs collected on the Wolf River, have been carefully raised at a streamside rearing facility operated by Riveredge and DNR where they have imprinted on the waters of the Milwaukee River.

If all goes according to plan, the fish will return to the river for spawning – a day that may well come before the 25-year Return of the Sturgeon project officially concludes. Brad Eggold, DNR southern Lake Michigan fisheries team supervisor, said the department’s lake sturgeon juvenile assessment work shows many of the more than 7,500 sturgeon released over the past decade appear to be doing well.

Releasing sturgeon

The festival offers an opportunity for youth and adults to sponsor and release young sturgeon into Lake Michigan.
WDNR Photo

In July, fisheries team members caught and released a 5-year-old sturgeon that measured 35 inches and weighed nearly 10 pounds. The fish, which has been growing about 6 inches per year, was the 57th lake sturgeon captured in the Milwaukee River and harbor area and adds to evidence that a number of the stocked fish are staying nearby and using the harbor as a nursery.

Fisheries team members are able to identify the age and origin of the stocked fish thanks to tiny passive integrated transponder – or PIT tags – inserted into the sturgeons before they are released. The pencil-lead sized tags and nets used to conduct the juvenile sturgeon assessments come thanks to additional support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Great Lakes Fishery Trust of Lansing, Mich.

“During the past year, we also picked up a young sturgeon that was reared more than 100 miles away in Kewaunee at the C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility and released at a sturgeon sponsorship event there,” Eggold said. “We’re pleased to see that conditions in Lake Michigan appear to support survival of the fish; habitat work on the Milwaukee River will further improve the odds for successful reproduction.”

Given current growth rates of the fish, some of the males are likely to reach sexual maturity in the next five to six years and the females within 10 to 15 years. That timeline is not lost on Vicki Elkin, executive director of the Fund for Lake Michigan, which has provided nearly $150,000 in the past three years to restore spawning habitat and support improvements to the streamside rearing facility that should lead to higher survival rates for the fish.

“We’re pleased to work in partnership with Riveredge and DNR on projects including construction of a spawning reef in the Milwaukee River that now provides more than an acre of prime habitat for sturgeon as well as walleye,” Elkin said. “Healthy populations of lake sturgeon were found in Lake Michigan as recently as the late 1800s and we hope our shared efforts contribute to natural reproduction in the decade ahead. Lake sturgeon serve as an important indicator of ecosystem health, so work to improve habitat for sturgeon benefits many species.”

Families and individuals interested in sponsoring a sturgeon for Sturgeon Fest are encouraged to register online before 2 p.m. on Friday, September 25, although it will still be possible to sign up at the event. The sturgeon are typically released between noon and 3 p.m. following a short presentation and a blessing of the fish by a Native American representative.

The free, family oriented presentation by Dr. Scott runs from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Johnson Controls World Stage on the Summerfest Grounds, a short walk from the sturgeon release site. Free parking for Sturgeon Fest is available at designated Summerfest parking lots and a shuttle to Lakeshore Park will be available.

To learn more about sturgeon, visit dnr.wi.gov and search for “lake sturgeon” as well as “lake sturgeon rehabilitation.” For more about the festival, visit the Riveredge Nature Center website and search for “Sturgeon Fest” (both links exit DNR).

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Eggold, DNR Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor, [email protected], 414-382-7921; Jessica Jens, Riveredge Nature Center executive director, [email protected], 262-375-2715; Vicki Elkin, Fund for Lake Michigan executive director, [email protected], 414-418-5008; Jennifer Sereno, DNR communications, 608-770-8084,[email protected].

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