SEAFWA Journal Volume 4, March 2017

Knowledge of the relationship between waterfowl hunters and harvest levels may better inform harvest management decisions. We examined frequency of different sizes of daily harvests among duck hunters, and hunters' contributions to duck harvest in the Central Flyway from 1975-1984, 1988-1993, and 2002-2011 using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Parts Collection Survey. We stratified hunters sampled by the Parts Collection Survey into 10 equal hunter groups based on seasonal harvest. Hunter groups were ranked from 1 to 10, with hunter group 1 representing hunters with the lowest...

Accurate age and growth information is essential in successful management of fish populations and for understanding early life history. We validated daily increment deposition, including the timing of first ring formation, for spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) through 127 days post hatch. Fry were produced from hatchery-spawned specimens, and up to 10 individuals per week were sacrificed and their otoliths (sagitta, lapillus, and asteriscus) removed for daily age estimation. Daily age estimates for all three otolith pairs were significantly related to known age. The strongest...

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are one of the most abundant and well-studied ungulates in North America. Few studies, however, have examined how population demography affects the fawning season, which may be influenced by age structure and adult sex ratio of the population. From 2010 to 2013, we used vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) to record the birth date of fawns born within a 174-ha captive facility to elucidate how population demography affects fawning season. We documented an earlier shift in fawning season as male age structure increased from a mean of 2.74 years old...

Many of the methods used to estimate white-tailed deer population parameters from camera images are reliant upon the assumption that rates of detectability are similar between both sexes and all age groups of deer. e assumption of equal detectability may not be valid when bait is used to attract deer to survey sites due to physical and behavioral differences between deer groups. We placed trail cameras set at 1-minute time-lapse intervals at randomly selected sites baited with corn inside the Auburn University Deer Research Facility, a 175-ha enclosure containing a captive population of...

Fisheries management problems are generally complex because they are socio-ecological systems encumbered by issues of scale, stakeholder conflict, and structural uncertainty with respect to the influence of management on the resource. Consequently, agencies that manage fisheries actively seek employees that can demonstrate problem-solving skills and communicate to a diverse set of stakeholders. To enhance development of critical thinking skills, problem-based learning was incorporated into an undergraduate introductory fisheries class using a structured decision making (SDM) framework....

Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) exhibit many characteristics of a periodic life-history strategy, including extended longevity, late maturity, high fecundity, and variable recruitment success. Observations of alligator gar spawning events indicate that recruitment in inland waters may be linked to spring and summer flood pulses and the availability of floodplain spawning habitats. However, because data have mostly come from observation and not formal experimentation, it is unknown whether these data represent true requirements or if they simply reflect conditions that were easily...

Urban fisheries provide unique angling opportunities for people from traditionally underrepresented demographics. Lake Raleigh is a 38-ha impoundment located on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh. Like many urban fisheries, little is known about angler use and satisfaction or how angling catch rate is related to fish availability in Lake Raleigh. We characterized the recreational fishery and fish assemblage with con- current creel and boat electro fishing surveys over the course of one year. In total, 245 anglers were interviewed on 68 survey days. On average, anglers...

An understanding of black bear (Ursus americanus) population trends and cause-specific mortality is needed to direct management decisions in northern Georgia given an increasing human population. Therefore, we evaluated black bear population trends and mortality sources across 26 counties and 18 Wildlife Management Areas in northern Georgia from 1979-2014. We collected harvest data from 6,433 individuals during the study period. Using age-at-harvest data, population reconstruction illustrated an increasing trend in the bear population for both males (λ = 1.113) and females (λ = 1.108)....

Wildlife managers rely on accurate information regarding wild turkey habitat selection and use to appropriately structure management activities. We used integrated VHF-GPS transmitters to evaluate fine scale movements and habitat selection of male Rio Grande wild turkeys (Meleagris gal- lapavo intermedia) in south Texas. As our study coincided with the regions second worst recorded drought, we evaluated the influence of supplemental resources (supplemental feeding and managed surface water) on turkey distribution and movements. We deployed eight GPS units on adult male Rio Grande wild...

The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) conducted a tagging study from April 2011 to May 2012 to study growth of wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) in the Lake Lanier Tailwater section of the Chattahoochee River. Sampling occurred monthly at four sites and fish were tagged with VI- Alpha tags on nine occasions between April 2011 and March 2012 for subsequent recapture. Follow-up samples in June and December 2012 confirmed a lack of movement between sites by any tagged brown trout that was seen in the previous samples. Growth increments between tagging and recapture events were...