scholarly journals Movement, habitat use, and spawning characteristics of flathead and blue catfish on the lower Missouri River and tributaries

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Blue Catfish

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal variation in Lake Sturgeon movement and habitat selection in Missouri river tributaries : implications for the management and recovery of populations at range margins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michael J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Lake Sturgeon ◽  
Upstream Migration ◽  
Regulated Rivers ◽  
Thermal Refugia ◽  
Suitable Habitats

Lake Sturgeon were nearly extirpated from Missouri by the 1970s leading the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to list the species as endangered within the state. Recovery efforts commenced with the publication of the first edition of Missouri's Lake Sturgeon Recovery Plan in 1984. Since, growing populations of mature individuals have been documented; however, information gaps regarding habitat selection and movement in the Missouri River Basin portion of its range hinder MDC's efforts to establish a self-sustaining population. In this project we focused on the following research objectives: (1) elucidate the factors that influence movement patterns of Missouri River Lake Sturgeon, (2) investigate survival and dispersal of stocked age-0 Lake Sturgeon from four stocking locations, (3) define seasonal habitat selection in multiple life stages of Lake Sturgeon and illustrate spatial availability of suitable habitats across the study area. I monitored movements 96 subadult and adult Lake Sturgeon over 3.5 years and 187 age-0 juvenile Lake Sturgeon during the fall/winter of two years. Missouri River tributaries were important habitats for adult and subadult Lake Sturgeon throughout the year. Lake Sturgeon use of the Osage River was greater in all months compared to the Gasconade River. Use of the Osage River was highest in the summer and lowest in the winter, and in the Gasconade River it was lowest in the summer and highest in the spring. In each month tributary occupancy was [greater than] 70 [percent]. Spring upstream migrations occurred in each tributary and were correlated with above average discharges and temperatures from 13 to 19 [degrees]C. Fall migrations only occurred in the Osage River but were also correlated with intermediate temperatures and above-average discharges. A few individuals were detected as far upstream as Bagnell Dam at river km (rkm) 129 in the Osage River or rkm 241 in the Gasconade River. In the summer and winter, tributary habitat use for [approximately] 95 [percent] of Lake Sturgeon was restricted to three reaches of deep pool habitat in the Osage and Gasconade rivers which may serve as thermal refugia. Spawning was not documented in either river, although some aggregations of Lake Sturgeon were observed around rocky shoals during the spring in the Osage River from rkm 50 to 80. Upstream migration distance was variable among individuals and years in the Gasconade River precluding the identification of potential spawning sites. Habitat selection was relatively similar in both tributaries and driven by selection for deep habitats [greater than] 7 m in all seasons. Suitability models suggest that preferred summer and winter deep water refugia may be limited to [less than] 5 [percent] of the mapped portions of each tributary but that preferred depth and coarse substrate for reproduction is relatively common at [greater than] 32 [percent] of tributaries. Dispersal directions and distance for age-0 Lake Sturgeon differed among the four stocking sites. Individuals stocked at upstream sites mainly dispersed downstream to overwinter in similar locations as individuals stocked at downstream sites from rkm 10 to 50. Overwinter survival rates were estimated from 40-55 [percent] and were not significantly different among stocking sites. Age-0 Lake Sturgeon selected shallower depths than adults or subadults in both rivers and slightly swifter current velocities in the Gasconade River. Habitat suitability models for the juveniles were able to predict age-0 habitat use and suggest that the greatest availability of nursery habitat occurs in the lower 11 km of the Osage River or in the reach from rkm 9 to 18 in the Gasconade River. These results can be used to inform management decisions designed to meet restoration objectives for Lake Sturgeon in Missouri and across its southern range margins such as: Managing hydrology of regulated rivers, protecting fish when they are vulnerable to harvest or injury in seasonal refugia, promoting resilience under shifting thermal and hydrologic regimes due to climate change, revealing sampling locations for population monitoring or spawning validation, allocating future stocking to suitable habitats, and directing habitat restoration and protection efforts.

scholarly journals Effects of the 2011 Missouri River flood on walleye natal recruitment and habitat use in Lake Sharpe, South Dakota

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-228
Author(s):  
William J. Radigan ◽  
Andrew K. Carlson ◽  
Mark J. Fincel ◽  
Brian D.S. Graeb
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
South Dakota ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
River Flood

Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ictalurus Punctatus ◽  
Channel Catfish ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Minimum Length ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Blue Catfish ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Flathead Catfish ◽  
Sport Fish

<em>Abstract</em>.—Catfish have provided sustenance for Missouri inhabitants since prehistoric times, and their abundance and large size capabilities contribute to a popular sport fishery. Catfish were first propagated in state fish hatcheries and stocked in public and private waters in 1911. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) began intensive rearing of channel catfish <em>Ictalurus punctatus</em> in 1938. Since 1942, fingerling channel catfish have been used in MDC’s private impoundment stocking program. In the early 1960s, MDC initiated production of advanced fingerling channel catfish (>20.3 cm) for stocking in small public lakes. Catchable-size channel catfish (>30.5 cm) are provided for kids’fishing clinics and the urban fishing program where angler effort is as high as 30,000 h/ha. Blue catfish <em>I. furcatus</em> and flathead catfish <em>Pylodictis olivaris</em> were first reared for stocking in public impoundments in 1978 and 1983, respectively. Commercial markets currently exist for channel catfish, flathead catfish, and blue catfish harvested from the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers. Catfish have comprised 21% of the commercial fish harvest since commercial fishing reports became a requirement in 1945. Channel catfish aquaculture has been a viable commercial industry in Missouri since the 1950s. The first official state sportfishing regulation established for catfish was a seasonal restriction in 1928 followed by a 30.5-cm minimum length limit for channel catfish in 1933. Separate daily sport fish bag limits are in effect for flathead catfish, blue catfish, and channel catfish. Currently, catfish are the most preferred sport fish group in Missouri. Most (75%) catfish anglers prefer to fish for channel catfish, most are harvest-oriented, and more than 80% prefer to fish with rod and reel. Competitive fishing for catfish began in the early 1980s, with most tournaments held on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and associated lower tributary streams. Major management achievements include banning commercial catfishing on the Missouri River and developing an effective sampling technique for monitoring channel catfish populations in small public lakes. Current fisheries management efforts are directed by a statewide plan and primarily focused on measuring exploitation, growth, movement, and fecundity of blue catfish and flathead catfish in the Missouri River, upper Mississippi River, and associated tributaries, and growth and exploitation of blue catfish and flathead catfish in two large reservoirs.

Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Radio Tracking ◽  
Blue Catfish ◽  
Spawning Period ◽  
Annual Cycles ◽  
Conservation Ecology ◽  
Flathead Catfish

<em>Abstract</em>.—Flathead catfish <em>Pylodictis olivaris</em> and blue catfish <em>Ictalurus furcatus</em> thrive in large rivers and constitute large sport fisheries. Defining a spatial scale for new management strategies has become increasingly important due to rapid expansion of the sport fishery. To investigate life history characteristics, migratory pathways, and space use, we used telemetry to monitor the movement behavior of flathead catfish and blue catfish during two complete annual cycles. Individuals were sampled from a 97-km reach of the lower Missouri River and surgically implanted with transmitters during April 2006 (<EM>N</EM> = 77) and again in April and July of 2007 (<EM>N</EM> = 80). Acoustic tracking by boat and radio tracking by helicopter were used on the Missouri, Lamine, Chariton, Little Chariton, and Grand rivers during 2006–2008. The proportion of individuals that used a tributary during the putative spawning period (May 15–July 15) increased from 10% (8 of 77) in 2006 to 18% (14 of 80) in 2007. Flood conditions in May 2007 may have contributed to this increase. Between April 2006 and May 2007, the majority of flathead (51%) and blue catfishes (55%) moved less than 100 river kilometers from where they were tagged. The maximum linear range during 2006–2007 was 347.6 river kilometers for blue catfish and 751.9 river kilometers for flathead catfish. Seasonal structure to annual movements was evident with periods of both restricted movement (December–March; July–September) and migratory behavior (March–June; October–December). The variability in observed behaviors provides a substantial basis for managers to identify and protect distant habitats that are used by adult catfish for spawning, feeding and growth, and overwintering.

Travels to the Source of the Missouri River

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meriwether Lewis ◽  
William Clark
Keyword(s):  
Missouri River
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