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USGS2000

Cruise report RV Ocean Surveyor cruise O-1-00-GM the bathymetry and acoustic backscatter of the Pinnacles area, northern Gulf of Mexico May 23, through June 10, 2000 Venice, LA to Venice, LA

An extensive deep (~100 m) reef tract occurs on the Mississippi-Alabama outer continental shelf (OCS). The tract, known as "The Pinnacles", is apparently part of a sequence of drowned reef complexes along the "40-fathom" shelf edge of the northern Gulf of Mexico (Ludwick and Walton, 1957). It is critical to determine the accurate geomorphology of deep-reefs because of their importance as benthic habitats for fisheries. The Pinnacles were mapped by Ludwick and Walton (1957) using a single-beam echo sounder but the spatial extent and morphology were interpreted from a series of widely separated, poorly navigated bathymetric profiles. Other recent studies, supported by Minerals Management Service (MMS), used towed sidescan sonars and single-channel seismic-reflection profiling. None of the existing studies provide the quality of geomorphic data necessary for reasonable habitat studies. The fish faunas of shallow hermatypic reefs have been well studied, but those of deep ahermatypic reefs have relatively ignored. The ecology of deep ahermatypic reefs is fundamentally different from hermatipic reefs because autochthonous intracellular symbiotic zooxanthellae (the carbon source for hermatypic corals) do not form the base of the trophic web. Instead, exogenous plankton, transported to the reef by currents, serves as the primary carbon source. Deep OCS reefs also lie below the practical working depths for SCUBA; consequently, remote investigations from a ship or in situ investigations using submersibles or ROVs are required. Community structure and trophodynamics of demersal fishes of the Pinnacles are presently the focus of USGS reseach. A goal of the research is to answer questions concerning the relataive roles played by geomorphology and surficial geology in the interaction with and control of biological differentiation. OCS reefs are important because we now know that such areas are important coral reef fish havens, key spawning 2 sites, and a critical early larval and juvenile habitats for economically important sport/food fishes. Also, deep-reef ecosystems as well as the fish populations they sustain are impacted by intensive oil-field development. It is now known that deep OCS reefs function as a key source of re-population (via seasonal and ontogenetic migration) of already heavily impacted inshore reefs. A reflection of this realization is the recent closure by the Gulf States Fisheries Management Council of a 600 mi 2 area of the Florida Middle Grounds (another unmapped major "40-fathom" OCS reef complex) to commercial fishing to preserve grouper spawning aggregations. It is known that the Pinnacles reefs support a lush fauna of ahermatypic hard corals, soft corals, black corals, sessile crinoids and sponges—together forming a living habitat for a well-developed fish fauna. The fish fauna comprises typical Caribbean reef fishes and Carolinian shelf fishes, plus epipelagic fishes, and a few deep-sea fishes. The base of the megafaunal invertebrate food web is plankton, borne by essentially continuous semi-laminar currents flowing predominantly out of the SW, up, along and across the shelf edge. These currents are intercepted by pinnacles reefs, which lie roughly in two linear tracts, parallel to the coastline (see fig. 1 in report). USGS research initiated in 1997 (Sulak et al., in progress) has demonstrated that the Pinnacles reef fish fauna is dominated by planktivorous fishes. Ongoing food habits, trophic web and stable isotope analyses by the USGS are reinforcing a basic picture of deep OCS reefs as ecosystems based on exogenous current-borne plankton. Long-term current meter deployments have demonstrated that the >3 m, <16m relief of the Pinnacles reefs disrupts the prevailing currents, inducing local complexity (F. Kelly, Texas A&M Univ., pers. comm.) favorable to plankton and planktivores. Geodetically accurate bathymetry maps, coregistered with calibrated acoustic backscatter maps, are critical to delineate benthic biotopes, and are essential to correlate biological community differentiation with the physical environment. Previous mapping of the Pinnacles area using the TAMU towed single-beam sidescan system (Anonymous., 1999) employed technology with inherent deficiencies in backscatter calibration, bathymetric precision, and geo-referencing. The resulting bathymetric interpretations of TAMU data are further degraded by ship-track-parallel artifacts that obliterate geomorphology rendering them inadequate to provide high-resolution mapping of individual target reefs (typical maximum relief 15 m, diameter 200-500 m). The sidescan-sonar surveys of the area (Laswell et al., 1990) suffer many of the same deficiencies as the TAMU data so they add no quantitative and little qualitative information about the geomorphology and surficial geology.

Gulf of Mexico, the Pinnacles area↗

USGS2007

Proceedings of the First All-USGS Modeling Conference, November 14-17, 2005

Preface: The First All-USGS Modeling Conference was held November 14-17, 2005, in Port Angeles, Washington. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) participants at the conference came from USGS headquarters and all USGS regions and represented all four science disciplines-Biology, Geography, Geology, and Water. The conference centered on selected oral case study presentations and posters on current USGS scientific modeling capabilities and activities. Abstracts for these case study presentations and posters are presented here. On behalf of all the participants of the First All-USGS Modeling Conference, we appreciate the support of Dee Ann Nelson and the staff of the Olympic Park Institute in providing the conference facilities; Dr. Jerry Freilich and Dr. Brian Winter of the National Park Service, Olympic National Park, for organizing and leading the conference field trip; and Debra Becker and Amy Newman, USGS Western Fisheries Research Center, Seattle, Washington, and Tammy Hansel, USGS Geospatial Information Office, Reston, Virginia, for providing technical support for the conference. The organizing committee for the conference included Jenifer Bracewell, Jacoby Carter, Jeff Duda, Anne Frondorf, Linda Gundersen, Tom Gunther, Pat Jellison, Rama Kotra, George Leavesley, and Doug Muchoney.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2022

Science and innovation for battling invasive carp

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the Federal Government’s independent research agency that conducts research to inform management of invasive species. Bighead, black, grass, and silver carp, which are native to China, were originally stocked in aquaculture facilities to control algae, snails, and vegetation. These species have invaded the Mississippi River and are now established throughout the lower and middle Mississippi River Basins and some of its large tributaries where they damage ecosystems and harm economies. A reproducing population of grass carp in Lake Erie is a risk to the $7 billion Great Lakes fishery. The USGS is leading research efforts on risk assessment and on early detection of new invasions. The USGS is also developing and evaluating harvest methods, barriers and deterrents, and baits/attractants to provide Federal and State management agencies the tools needed to manage and reduce populations of these species.

Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas↗

USGS2004

Nonlinear response of trout abundance to summer stream temperatures across a thermally diverse montane landscape

Stream temperature is a fundamental physical factor that affects the distribution and abundance of salmonids, but empirical inconsistencies exist regarding the nature of this relationship in wild populations. We sampled trout populations composed primarily of cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki but also including brown trout Salmo trutta and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis at 102 reaches on 24 first- to fourth-order streams across a thermally diverse montane landscape. Curves fit to scatterplots of density and biomass versus mean July-August stream temperatures suggested nonlinear, dome-shaped responses. Peaks occurred near mean stream temperatures of 12??C; x-intercepts were near 3??C and 21??C. We conclude that inconsistencies in previously reported temperature-abundance relationships for wild trout populations may have resulted from sampling only a subset of the thermal environments occupied by a species. Researchers analyzing this relationship should be cognizant of the range of temperatures studied and the expected form of the relationship over that range.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

USGS1952

Twenty five years of Federal fishery research on the Great Lakes

The major purpose of this publication is to present an annotated bibliography of papers resulting from Federal investigations on the Great Lakes fish and fisheries since the formal initiation of a continuing research program by the Fish and Wildlife Service. It is believed that this purpose can be served best by prefacing that bibliography with a brief account of the origins of Great Lakes Fishery Investigations, of the circumstances that have guided their course, and of the scientists who have participated in the several studies.

Special Scientific Report - Fisheries↗

USGS2013

Behavior and movement of adult summer steelhead following collection and release, lower Cowlitz River, Washington, 2012--2013

Executive Summary Historically, adult summer steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss returning to hatcheries on the lower Cowlitz River were sometimes transported and released in the river (recycled) to provide additional angling opportunity for the popular sport fishery in the basin. However, this practice has not been used in recent years because of concerns associated with interactions between hatchery fish and wild fish. Fishery managers were interested in resuming recycling but lacked information regarding effects of this practice on wild steelhead so we conducted a study during 2012–2013 to: (1) enumerate recycled steelhead that returned to the hatchery or were removed by anglers; and (2) determine if steelhead that were not removed from the river remained in the system where they could interact with wild fish. During June–August 2012, a total of 549 summer steelhead were captured at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, tagged, and released downstream near the Interstate 5 Bridge. All recycled steelhead were tagged with a white Floy ® tag and opercle-punched; 109 (20 percent) of these fish also were radio-tagged. All adult steelhead that return to the hatchery were handled by hatchery staff so recycled steelhead that returned to the hatchery were enumerated daily. A creel survey and voluntary angler reports were used to determine the number of recycled steelhead that were caught by anglers. We established three fixed telemetry monitoring sites on the mainstem Cowlitz River and eight additional sites were deployed on tributaries to the lower Cowlitz River where wild winter steelhead are known to spawn. We also conducted mobile tracking from a boat during October 2012, November 2012, and January 2013 to locate radio-tagged fish. A total of 10,722 summer steelhead were captured at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery in 2012, which was the largest return since 2008. River flows during much of the study period were similar to 2008–2011 average flows, however, high-flow periods in July and November 2012 were nearly twice as high as the 2008–2011 average flows. We determined that 50 percent (273 fish) of the recycled steelhead returned to the hatchery and 18 percent (102 fish) of the recycled steelhead were caught by anglers. Most (243 fish; 89 percent) of the recycled steelhead that returned to the hatchery were recollected during July–August. The average elapsed time from release to recapture at the hatchery was 9 days (d) and 72 percent (182 fish) of the fish returned to the hatchery within 14 d of release. These trends were similar for recycled steelhead that were caught by anglers. Most fish were caught during July–August and the median time from release to capture was 10 d. We determined that 65 percent (70 fish) of the angler-caught fish returned to the hatchery within 14 d of release. River flows appeared to affect both hatchery returns and angler catch. The daily number of recycled steelhead that were recollected at the hatchery were low during periods when river flows were decreasing and high during periods when river flows were increasing. Conversely, daily angler catch of recycled steelhead generally was low when flows were increasing and high when flows were decreasing. We determined that 32 percent of the recycled steelhead (174 fish) were not removed from the lower Cowlitz River, based on observations from hatchery returns and angler reports, but results from the radio-tagged fish were insightful for understanding what may have happened to these fish. By comparison, we determined that 24 percent of the radio-tagged fish were not known to have been removed from the river. We determined that 12 percent of these fish were actively moving in the lower Cowlitz River during October 2012–January 2013. None of the radio-tagged fish were detected in tributaries during the study period except for a single fish that spent approximately 7 d in the Toutle River during early September. During October 2012–January 2013, 10 percent of the radio-tags from recycled steelhead were detected near popular fishing areas, and 2 percent of the radio-tagged steelhead were never detected during the study period. We suspect that a large proportion of these fish may have been harvested and not reported, or died. Detection patterns of radio-tagged steelhead showed that most fish (82 percent) moved upstream from the release site and were detected at the Trout Hatchery and the Barrier Dam sites. The median time from release to detection at these sites was 3.7 d and many of these fish made multiple trips between the two sites. Nearly one-third (29 percent) of the recycled steelhead that were detected at the Trout Hatchery and the Barrier Dam made at least two trips between the sites and some fish made as many as six trips. Radio-tagged fish that remained in the lower Cowlitz River during the spawning period (December 2012–January 2013) were observed in the river reach between the mouth of Ostrander Creek (river mile 10) and the Trout Hatchery (river mile 44). During this study, we collected data on opercle punch regrowth rates to understand the temporal effectiveness of this marking technique. We took opercle measurements for a total of 190 fish during the study. Fresh opercle punches were measured for 63 fish at the time of marking, and the remaining 127 fish were measured when fish returned to the hatchery. We determined that opercle punches remained open for about 30 d. The holes appeared to regrow slowly in the first 20 d after marking, but regrowth accelerated during the 20–30 d post-marking period. After 30 d, all opercle punches that we observed had completely closed due to tissue regrowth. Our study showed that a large proportion (68 percent) of the recycled steelhead were removed from the lower Cowlitz River. These fish primarily entered the hatchery or were caught by anglers within 14 d of release, which suggests that they present minimal risk to wild fish in the system. However, the remaining fish (32 percent) could not be accounted for, which may complicate fisheries management decisions associated with recycling summer steelhead. Findings from the radiotelemetry study suggest that unreported harvest or mortality could explain a large proportion of those fish that were not reported as having been removed from the river. Furthermore, intensive monitoring of the key spawning tributaries failed to detect a single fish during the spawning period. These findings were supported by observations from weir traps operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Our findings indicate that additional research may be warranted to further examine the effects of recycling hatchery summer steelhead in the lower Cowlitz River.

Washington↗

USGS2017

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program—2016 year in review

Summary The Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units (CRU) Program had a productive year in 2016. Despite vacancies in our scientist ranks exceeding 20 percent, our research, training, and teaching portfolio was full and we graduated 93 students and published 398 manuscripts primarily focused on addressing the real conservation challenges of our cooperators. As I’ve stated before, our mission is our legacy: meeting the actionable science needs of our cooperators, providing them technical guidance and assistance in interpreting and applying new advances in science, and developing the future workforce through graduate education and mentoring. Our scientists and the manner in which they approach our mission continue to inspire me. The most rewarding part of my job is meeting and engaging with the students they recruit—the conservation professionals of the future. I cannot help but feel uplifted after discussions with and presentations by these young men and women. Personally, I owe my place in the profession today to the mentoring I received as a CRU student, and today’s CRU scientists have raised the bar. It gives me hope for the future of conservation, and added motivation to see our vacancies filled so that we can expand our portfolio. The National Cooperators’ Coalition has been active and is strategically working to build support on our behalf. Sincere thanks to the American Fisheries Society, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Boone and Crockett Club, the National Association of University Fish and Wildlife Programs, the Wildlife Management Institute, and The Wildlife Society for their efforts and those of their affiliated members. We co-sponsored a workshop at the 2016 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference along with the American Fisheries Society, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Wildlife Management Institute, and The Wildlife Society, titled “Barriers and Bridges in Reconnecting Natural Resources Science and Management.” The workshop was well received and we have been asked to continue the dialogue with a second workshop in 2017. It was evident during the workshop that the CRU is viewed by our cooperators as an important and essential linkage between academia and practitioners. This is testament to the legacy of the CRU Program and the foundation it is built upon. In this Year in Review report, you will find details on staffing, vacancies, research funding, and other pertinent information. You will also see snapshots of CRU projects with information on how results have been or are being applied by cooperators. That is the essence of what we do: science that matters.

Circular↗

USGS2016

The persistence and characteristics of Chinook salmon migrations to the Upper Klamath River prior to exclusion by dams

In this research article, John Hamilton and his co-authors present extensive new research and information gathered since a 2005 publication on the historical evidence of anadromomous fish distribution in the Upper Klamath River watershed. Using historical accounts from early explorers and ethnographers to early-twentieth-century photographs, newspaper accounts, and government reports, the authors provide a more complete record of past salmon migrations. The updated record “substantiate[s] the historical persistence of salmon, their migration characteristics, and the broad population baseline that will be key to future commercial, recreational, and Tribal fisheries in the Klamath River and beyond.” During a time when salmon restoration plans are being considered in the region, the historical record can serve as guidance to once again establish diverse and thriving populations.

California, Oregon↗

USGS2022

Action plan for restoration of coral reef coastal protection services: Case study example and workbook

This report was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Office of Research and Development, as part of the Air, Climate and Energy (ACE) research program, with support from Tetra Tech, Inc., and in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and The Nature Conservancy. The ACE research program provides scientific information and tools to support USEPA’s commitment to clean air, clean water and sustainable natural resources, even as environmental conditions change. A key component of this is the development of sound science to support adaptation. Adaptation involves preparing for and adjusting to the effects of climate change and its interactions with other global and local stressors. Because these effects are diverse, interactive, and difficult to predict, adapting management of natural resources in this context can be very challenging. Coral reefs—which provide valued ecosystem services such as fisheries, coastal protection, and tourism—are threatened by the effects of increased sea surface temperatures, sea level rise, and intensifying storms. These large-scale stressors are interacting with local stressors such as pollution, overfishing, and recreational misuse to drive ongoing and accelerating declines in coral reef ecosystems. Thus, there is a rising urgency to design and implement climate change adaptation measures that will enable reef resilience in the face of these changes. This includes accounting for, and adjusting to, the combined effects of climate change and local stressors in coral reef protection and restoration efforts. The action plan, example case study, and workbook found in this report demonstrate a structured process for integrating climate-smart design considerations into restoration planning using A Manager’s Guide to Coral Reef Restoration Planning and Design. The focus is a hypothetical coral reef restoration project that has a goal of recovering nature-based coastal protection services using restoration interventions. The intent is to provide readers with a completed example of how to use the Guide workbook to inform a draft action plan, centering on the topic of coastal protection as a burgeoning area of interest in coral reef science and management communities. The information in this hypothetical case study is not intended for direct use; rather, it provides a starting point for more detailed planning that would occur in specific places. And while a full review of the current literature on reef restoration methods is outside the scope of this report, readers are encouraged to use the examples herein as well as in the Guide as a jumping-off point for exploring the rapidly growing body of information on methods, techniques, successes, failures, monitoring challenges and future directions of coral reef restoration in a changing world. The workbook, together with the action plan, can serve as a valuable record of the planning thought process as well as a living document for adaptive management, to be updated through time as improved information becomes available.

EPA Report↗

USGS2020

Stock-recruitment dynamics of a freshwater clupeid

The clupeid gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum is often the most abundant fish species in North American reservoirs, and this dominance can have cascading trophic effects on entire fish assemblages. Accordingly, a key aspect of managing reservoir fish assemblages involves controlling gizzard shad densities. We used a 33-year time series to evaluate the relative importance of parental stock density, winter temperature, and water regime on recruitment of age-0 gizzard shad in a large reservoir. Recruitment modeled with a Ricker-type curve increased with the size of the adult stock, peaked, and then decreased at high stock densities. This over-compensatory stock-recruitment relationship was made more dynamic by fluctuations in inflow, with recruitment increasing in years of high inflow, however there was no temperature effect at the latitude of the study site. The influence of stock size on recruitment was roughly twice as high as the influence of inflow. This study is the first to report stock-recruitment relationships for a clupeid species in a reservoir and concurs with analyses of marine fishes that have shown that most clupeids exhibit compensatory or over-compensatory patterns in their stock-recruitment relationships.

Fisheries Research↗

USGS2013

USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database with a focus on the introduced fishes of the lower Tennessee and Cumberland drainages

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database (http://nas.er.usgs.gov) functions as a national repository and clearinghouse for occurrence data for introduced species within the United States. Included is locality information on over 1,100 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, and vascular plants introduced as early as 1850. Taxa include foreign (exotic) species and species native to North America that have been transported outside of their natural range. Locality data are obtained from published and unpublished literature, state, federal and local monitoring programs, museum accessions, on-line databases, websites, professional communications and on-line reporting forms. The NAS web site provides immediate access to new occurrence records through a real-time interface with the NAS database. Visitors to the web site are presented with a set of pre-defined queries that generate lists of species according to state or hydrologic basin of interest. Fact sheets, distribution maps, and information on new occurrences are updated as new records and information become available. The NAS database allows resource managers to learn of new introductions reported in their region or nearby regions, improving response time. Conversely, managers are encouraged to report their observations of new occurrences to the NAS database so information can be disseminated to other managers, researchers, and the public. In May 2004, the NAS database incorporated an Alert System to notify registered users of new introductions as part of a national early detection/rapid response system. Users can register to receive alerts based on geographic or taxonomic criteria. The NAS database was used to identify 23 fish species introduced into the lower Tennessee and Cumberland drainages. Most of these are sport fish stocked to support fisheries, but the list also includes accidental and illegal introductions such as Asian Carps, clupeids, various species popular in the aquarium trade, and Atlantic Needlefish ( Strongylura marina ) that was introduced via the newly-constructed Tennessee-Tombigbee Canal.

Cumberland River;Tennessee River↗

USGS1966

U.S. Federal research on fisheries and limnology in the Great Lakes through 1964: an annotated bibliography

The annotated bibliography is preceded by a brief account of the Federal research program in fisheries and limnology in the Great Lakes in 1957-64. The bibliography covers 314 papers by staff members of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., and 35 by associated scientists with whom the Laboratory had contractual or other cooperative arrangements; included also are patents issued to Laboratory personnel. A roster of Laboratory scientists as of December 31, 1964, is appended.

Special Scientific Report - Fisheries↗

USGS2019

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) climate scenario planning pilot report

Scenario planning is a structured process that embraces uncertainty and explores plausible alternative future conditions under different assumptions to help manage risk and prioritize actions ( Schwartz 1996, Peterson et al . 2003). It has been used by a variety of organizations to explore and help prepare for the future, lends itself well to exploring the uncertainty surrounding changing environmental conditions, and is widely applicable to natural resource management issues. The conservation and management of protected resources for example, can be particularly challenging when the rate and magnitude of climate-related changes, and the response of species to those changes, are uncertain (NMFS 2016). The structured process of scenario planning can help resource managers navigate through potentially paralyzing uncertainties, manage risk, and evaluate/prioritize management actions associated with adapting to, and managing for, climate change (Moore et al . 2013). Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) is a species highly vulnerable to climate change in the Northeast Atlantic (Hare et al . 2016a). Based on this and the above reasons, a scenario planning initiative was piloted by NOAA Fisheries to explore what the agency can do to improve U.S.Atlantic salmon population resilience to changing climate conditions in riverine, estuarine(transition), and marine environments across its current range (U.S. headwaters to Greenland). Project objectives were: 1) to better understand the challenges of managing Atlantic salmon in a changing climate; 2) to identify and discuss potential management actions and research activities that can be undertaken to increase our understanding of the drivers of Atlantic salmon productivity and resilience; 3) to increase collaborations and coordination related to the speciesrecovery; and 4) to explore how scenario planning can be used to support decisions. Outcomes from this initiative included, but were not limited to, the identification of high priority research and management actions to further collaborations and efforts to recover this species. The identified high priority actions were those that could be undertaken in the near-term(1-5 years) using current resources and in consideration of potential future conditions. Examples of identified actions by habitat (not in order of priority) included: 1) synthesize and refine range-wide life stage specific quantitative environmental thresholds for temperature, flow, etc.; 2) assess watershed habitat productivity; 3) assess forage fish and survival connection and options for marine migration monitoring; and 4) reduce dam-associated indirect estuarine mortality rate. In addition, a number of high priority climate-related actions were included in the revised Atlantic Salmon Recovery Plan (USFWS and NMFS 2019, Appendix 16) and at least two newly NOAA Fisheries funded projects are now underway (1. conduct range-wide habitat analysis and synthesize life stage specific quantitative thresholds and 2. identify locations of cold water refugia under a changing climate). This is the first use of the scenario planning process (NPS 2013) by NOAA Fisheries. This report documents an important example of applying scenario planning to marine species/environments and may serve as a useful reference for other case studies.

Atlantic Ocean↗

USGS1990

Field manual for the investigation of fish kills

Preface Fish kills are graphic evidence of serious problems in a lake or stream. If the kill is related to the presence of toxic chemicals, there may be human health concerns, in addition to the obvious damage to the ecosystem and the fisheries resources. Depending on the cause of a fish kill, legal and economic ramifications may be involved. If the kill is cause by human or corporate actions, litigation is likely to follow, with possible court-awarded damages and assessed costs for cleanup and restoration. Federal and State agencies have expressed the need for a compendium of known and accepted methods and techniques that should be followed by anyone investigation a fish kill. This manual is an attempt to fill that need. It addresses the many facets involved in a fish kill investigation and provides instruction, guidance, examples, and sample forms that can be used. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to provide this manual to help fisheries biologists and others prepare for a fish kill investigation. Research and Development (Region 8) has cooperated with the Division of Environmental Contaminants in Fish and Wildlife Enhancement to provide expertise and funds. We hope that the manual proves to be useful for interpreting evidence at the site of a fish kill, and corrective actions, and preparing for appearance as a court witness.

Resource Publication↗

USGS2008

Fisheries and aquatic resources—fish health

Fish health research at Leetown had its origin in the 1930’s when the Leetown Fish Hatchery and Experiment Station was constructed. In 1978, the National Fish Health Research Laboratory, now a component of the Leetown Science Center, was established to solve emerging and known disease problems affecting fish and other aquatic organisms critical to species restoration programs. Center scientists develop methods for the isolation, detection, and identification of fish pathogens and for prevention and control of fish diseases.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS1963

Publications on fish parasites and diseases, 330 B.C.-A.D

These references were collected in 1924, but until now this collection has been available only in manuscript form. Because of the current increased interest in this field, this bibliography is being issued to make it more generally accessible. They include the earliest known references to fish parasites (330 B.C.) as well as a nearly complete collection up to 1924. In some instances only one or two works of a more prolific researcher are cited, therefore it is recommended that the student use the Index-Catalogue of Medical and Veterinary Zoology (U. S. Department of Agriculture) freely. For more current work consult the following, of which Dogiel et al.(1958), Hoffman and Sindermann (1962), Schaperclaus (1954), and Snieszko et aL(in press) have extensive bibliographies:

Special Scientific Report - Fisheries↗

USGS2011

Development of a bioenergetics model for age-0 American Shad

Bioenergetics modeling can be used as a tool to investigate the impact of non-native age-0 American shad (Alosa sapidissima) on reservoir and estuary food webs. The model can increase our understanding of how these fish influence lower trophic levels as well as predatory fish populations that feed on juvenile salmonids. Bioenergetics modeling can be used to investigate ecological processes, evaluate alternative research hypotheses, provide decision support, and quantitative prediction. Bioenergetics modeling has proven to be extremely useful in fisheries research (Ney et al. 1993,Chips and Wahl 2008, Petersen et al. 2008). If growth and diet parameters are known, the bioenergetics model can be used to quantify the relative amount of zooplankton or insects consumed by age-0 American shad. When linked with spatial and temporal information on fish abundance, model output can guide inferential hypothesis development to demonstrate where the greatest impacts of age-0 American shad might occur.

Report↗

USGS2011

Understanding the influence of predation by introduced fishes on juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River Basin: Closing some knowledge gaps. Interim Report of Research 2010

Project overview Predation on juvenile salmonids by fish in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) has impacted salmon survival and is a topic that has received considerable attention over the last three decades. Some of the earliest and most detailed research focused on the food habits, consumption rates, abundance, and distribution of predaceous northern pikeminnow Ptychocheilus oregonensis , smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu , walleye Sander vitreus , and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in John Day Reservoir (Beamesderfer and Rieman 1991; Poe et al. 1991; Vigg et al. 1991). This group of researchers also estimated the loss of juvenile salmonids to predation by some of these predators (Rieman et al. 1991). Since this pioneering effort, others have evaluated various aspects of predation-related mortality on juvenile salmonids in the CRB, focusing mostly on northern pikeminnow and smallmouth bass (e.g., Tabor et al. 1993; Zimmerman 1999; Naughton et al. 2004). Perhaps the most significant finding coming from this body of research was that the native northern pikeminnow was the dominant predator of juvenile salmonids in the CRB. Indeed, Beamesderfer et al. (1996) estimated that northern pikeminnow consumed about 16 million (8%) of the estimated 200 million juvenile salmonids emigrating annually in the CRB, far surpassing the consumption of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish combined. Because of this, large-scale management fisheries (i.e., the northern pikeminnow management program, or NPMP; see Rieman and Beamesderfer 1990; Beamesderfer et al. 1996) have been implemented in the CRB since 1990 to achieve a 10%–20% exploitation rate on northern pikeminnow and reduce predation on juvenile salmonids. The NPMP has been a success, resulting in up to 38% potential reductions in predation (Friesen and Ward 1999; Knutsen and Ward 1999; Ward and Zimmerman 1999;). In contrast to the NPMP, Oregon and Washington state fish and wildlife agencies manage and enhance recreational fisheries for smallmouth bass and walleye by implementing size and harvest limit regulations. Recently, many biologists and fish managers have become concerned about the impact of non-native predaceous fishes on juvenile salmonid survival. For example, Poe et al. (1994) warned that smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish were expanding their populations in some areas, that these fish could be significant predators on juvenile salmonids, and that they may compete with northern pikeminnow for common prey items, resulting in higher consumption rates of salmonids by the native predator. Sanderson et al. (2009) reported that the impact of non-indigenous species (including piscivorous fishes) on salmon survival within the CRB can be severe and suggested that managing nonindigenous species may be imperative for salmon recovery. Assessing the current ecological impacts of introduced fishes throughout the CRB will fill information gaps associated with their impact on salmonid survival and contribute to the description of CRB food webs. In response to these recent concerns about the potential predatory impact of non-native piscivores on salmon survival, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) co-hosted a workshop to address predation on juvenile salmonids in the CRB by non-native fish (Halton 2008). The purpose of the workshop was to review, evaluate, and develop strategies to reduce predation by non-native fishes on juvenile salmonids. In the end, discussion at the workshop and at subsequent meetings considered two potential ideas to reduce predation by non-native fish on juvenile salmonids; (1) understanding the role of juvenile American shad Alosa sapidissima in the diet of non-native predators in the fall; and (2) the effects of localized, intense reductions of smallmouth bass in areas of particularly high salmonid predation. In this report, we describe initial efforts to understand the influence of juvenile American shad as a prey item for introduced predators in the middle Columbia River. Our first objective, addressed in Chapter 1, was to evaluate the efficacy of nonlethal methods to describe the physiological condition of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish from late summer through late fall. Such information will be used to understand the contribution of juvenile American shad to the energy reserves of predaceous fish prior to winter. In Chapter 2, we describe the results of some limited sampling to document the food habits of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish in three reservoirs of the middle Columbia River during late fall. Collectively, we hope to increase our understanding of the contribution of juvenile American shad to the diets of introduced predators and the contribution of this diet to their energy reserves, growth, and perhaps over-winter survival. Managers should be able to use this information for deciding whether to control the population of American shad in the CRB or for managing introduced predaceous fish in the CRB.

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