George C. Palmer

When estimating population size of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) using the multi-pass removal method with electrofishing, understanding the significance of capture avoidance is important. One-hundred-fifty smallmouth bass were tagged with external radio transmitters and monitored during depletion sampling in seven different river reaches in Virginia. Capture avoidance of radio-tagged smallmouth bass during electrofishing averaged 33.7% (SE = 5.75%). Avoidance appeared to be random across the sample reaches and there were no significant correlations between capture avoidance...

The increasing importance of the walleye (Sander vitreus) fishery in the New River, Virginia, and recent research findings showing persistence of a presumptive native stock motivated a seven-year program of hatchery-based restoration of the native fishery. Candidate spawners were collected from spawning areas, and DNA from fin clips was genotyped at two microsatellite loci. Candidates exhibiting alleles at the Svi17 and Svi33 loci that characterize the presumptive native stock were spawned. Their young were reared at one of four fish hatcheries in Virginia and West Virginia. Approximately...

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) have been the preferred species of New River anglers since the early 1960s. Since the early 1960s, shifts in New River smallmouth bass population conditions have occurred. Some of these shifts are due to changed size limits which altered angler behavior. However, a number of unexplained changes prevent definitive analysis of causative factors. The New River smallmouth bass fishery of 1982 and 1983 was characterized by high numbers of sublegal fish (< 305 mm), slow growth, poor survival, and low relative weights. These characteristics shifted to...

The increasing importance of the walleye (Sander vitreus) fishery in the New River, Virginia, and recent research findings motivated characterization of its genetic composition. Movements of radio-tagged fish suggested that walleyes living in Claytor Lake and the upper New River tend to spawn in different areas. In this study, allozyme, microsatellite DNA, and mitochondrial DNA genetic marker data were analyzed to assess population genetic differentiation among collections of New River walleye. The walleyes within Claytor Lake are a panmictic population, presumably resulting from years of...