Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Walleye (Sander vitreus) were collected during late winter-early spring in 2008 - 2011 at seven sites across Virginia to evaluate angler catch and exploitation. A total of 3116 walleye were tagged with FD94 T-bar Floy tags at four small impoundments (<200 ha), two large impoundments (>200 ha), and the New River during the course of the study. Anglers were offered a US$20 reward for the return of each tag, and 530 tags (17%) were returned. Adjusted annual catch rates ranged from 15% - 61%, with a mean of 29%. Annual exploitation ranged from 2% - 29% with a mean of 12%. Mean total length (TL) of angler-caught walleye was largest in large impoundments (489 mm), next largest in the New River (465 mm), and smallest in small impoundments (418 mm; P < 0.001). Mean TL of walleye harvested from small impoundments (462 mm) were smaller than those harvested from large impoundments (508 mm) or rivers (507 mm) (P < 0.001).

Hybrid striped bass (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops) are commonly introduced in southeastern U.S. reservoirs to create a sport fishery and as a means of utilizing abundant shad (Dorosoma spp.) populations. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) has historically stocked the common-cross hybrid (M. saxatilis female x M. chrysops male; hereafter, common HSB) rather than the reciprocal-cross hybrid (M. saxatilis male x M. chrysops female; hereafter, reciprocal HSB). Due to concerns over downstream emigration of stocked fish from reservoirs, common HSB have mostly been stocked in reservoirs with low water exchange rates; whereas stockings in high flow-through reservoirs have been limited. Some evidence exists that reciprocal HSB have less tendency to emigrate from the reservoirs they are stocked in; however, a direct comparison of the two Morone hybrid crosses in Oklahoma reservoirs had never been done.

Recent studies have shown that black bass (Micropterus spp.) tournament angling continues to increase. The magnitude and implications of tournament-fish mortality have been studied often; however, the economic value of tournament angling has rarely been assessed. We determined the economic value of black bass tournament angling at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas. A total of 25,396 participants competed in 405 tournaments occurring from November 2007 to October 2008. The majority of tournaments (75%) had <50 participants and required an organization membership (bass club). Lower open tournaments (50 participants) accounted for 40% of tournament participants. Total tournament angler expenditures ($23.7 million) accounted for 74% of total angling expenditures ($31.9 million). One 3-day tournament with 3892 participants was responsible for 27% of total tournament expenditures and 20% of total angler expenditures.

Recent studies on largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fisheries indicate fishing mortality has declined significantly due to voluntary catch-and-release practices by anglers. We evaluated the relative abundance, growth, mortality, and exploitation of largemouth bass in three Georgia small impoundments. To assess exploitation, 100 largemouth bass were tagged during spring 2010 in Lake Lindsay Grace and Hugh M. Gillis Public Fishing Area and during spring 2011 in Dodge County Public Fishing Area. Monetary rewards for tag returns were either US$5 or $105 per fish, and these values were printed on the tags. Tag returns for the high-reward tags ranged from 30% to 47% across impoundments, whereas returns of the low-reward tags ranged from 13% to 26%. Annual exploitation (u) based on the high-reward tags ranged from 0.13 - 0.30 and total annual mortality (A) estimated from catch-curve analysis ranged from 0.38 to 0.55 across impoundments.

The Poteau River in southeastern Oklahoma contains a diverse mussel community, including 11 identified as species of greatest conservation need. The river is impounded by Wister Reservoir, a 2970-ha impoundment. In an attempt to improve water quality in the reservoir, a proposal was submitted to siphon eutrophic water from the bottom over the dam into the Poteau River. The movement of suspended sediments is expected to pose a significant threat to mussel assemblages below Wister Reservoir. To assess future project impacts on mussel assemblages, water quality and sediment analysis was conducted prior to the enactment of the proposal of the reservoir and in the river below the dam. Furthermore, a survey was conducted on mussels and potential host fishes in the first 27 km downstream of Wister Lake. Analysis of lake sediment samples showed elevated levels of phosphorus (>300 mg kg_1), nitrogen (>900 mg kg_1), and arsenic (>10 mg kg_1).

The Missouri Department of Conservation suspected that blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) were being heavily exploited by anglers in the 22,501-ha Harry S. Truman Reservoir in west-central Missouri. A volunteer catfish angler creel was conducted during 2003_2005 to assess catch, harvest trends, and the proportional contribution of the two catfish species to the overall catfish fishery by reservoir catfish anglers. Following recruitment, a total of 308 volunteers were trained and then asked to fill out daily diary forms after each catfishing trip. Volunteers were asked to supply fish length and harvest information for their catch and the catch of all members of their fishing party as well as a trip rating. Anglers who actively participated in the program were entered into a random drawing at the end of each fishing season and received prizes ranging in value from US$15 to $100.

Determining the water quality of estuarine ecosystems is difficult because of the environment's variable properties. Hexavalent chromium is a toxic metal found in estuarine ecosystems due to pollution from industrial surroundings, and methods are needed to determine biotic responses to chromium contamination. It is proposed that expression of the fatty-acid binding protein (FABP) gene in (Fundulus heteroclitus), a common estuarine inhabitant, and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analytical techniques can be used as indicators of hexavalent chromium contamination. Using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), FABP gene expression was analyzed to see if expression or non-expression occurred after contamination with hexavalent chromium.

In 2001, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency biologists sampled what morphologically appeared to be Alabama bass (Micropterus henshalli) in Parksville Reservoir (Tennessee River Basin). Alabama bass, which are morphologically similar to spotted bass (M. punctulatus), are endemic to the Mobile Basin and had never been previously stocked in Parksville Reservoir. This study sought to confirm the identification of this nonnative fish species in Parksville Reservoir and assess the extent of hybridization with other black bass species within the lake and surrounding water bodies (Chickamauga Reservoir and tributaries). We used five microsatellite loci known to be highly informative for the identification of spotted bass and Alabama bass to assess the taxonomic identity and extent of hybridization for putative Alabama bass samples collected from Parksville Reservoir (n = 63) and spotted bass collected from Chickamauga Reservoir and tributaries (n = 61).

Two sampling designs were compared to evaluate Oklahoma's standardized sampling procedures for electrofishing largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in reservoirs. Historical subjectively-chosen fixed sites were sampled along with random sites stratified by habitat category (good, fair, and poor) at four reservoirs in central Oklahoma. The stratified categories were determined by a composite of the shape/structure of the bottom, substrate type, and type of cover available in 0.5-km transects. Using the stratified random design, three of the four reservoirs showed significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) catch per unit effort (CPUE, fish h^{- 1}) between the habitat categories. Good habitat at those three lakes exhibited the highest CPUE while poor habitat was the lowest. CPUE was significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) at the stratified random sites than the fixed sites at two of the four reservoirs.

The objectives of this study were to quantify ageing precision for largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and spotted bass (M. punctulatus), and to evaluate the effect of ageing errors on the estimation of common fisheries metrics. Sagittal otoliths were extracted from 2164 largemouth bass and 738 spotted bass collected from throughout the Arkansas River, Arkansas. Largemouth bass collections occurred during 2004, 2005, and 2010; spotted bass collections were limited to 2004 and 2005. Annuli were counted by two independent readers from digital images of each whole otolith. For individuals aged greater than 2 yrs from whole views, otoliths were transverse sectioned through the focus and polished, with the cross-sectional surfaces imaged and re-aged. Precision between readers of both whole-view and sectioned otoliths was determined for all ages, whereas precision between ages generated from whole-view and sectioned otoliths also was determined.

The Lanier Tailwater section of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, below Buford Dam has populations of wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) and stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). To better understand the ability of wild brown trout to recruit to the fishery, stomach contents of brown trout and rainbow trout were examined in summer and fall 2011 and winter and spring 2012 at four locations along the river. Midges (Diptera) were the most common category observed in the diets of both species throughout the study. Other common items included caddisflies (Trichoptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), ants/termites (Formicidae/Termitoidae), worms (Annelida), and scuds (Isopoda). While rainbow trout were more likely than brown trout to have empty stomachs, their diets were otherwise similar. Midges were consumed more often by brown trout and rainbow trout than any other diet category at all sites and in all seasons. Some categories were less prevalent at the most upstream site.

Across its historical range, fisheries for the North American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) have proven sensitive to overexploitation because its roe is a source of expensive caviar. In 2008, the Paddlefish Research Center (PRC) was developed near Miami, Oklahoma, by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) to collect biological data and support other monitoring activities on the Grand Lake O' the Cherokees (Grand Lake) paddlefish stock, the state's largest fishery, as part of a voluntary roe donation program. Several key observations led ODWC to conclude that an evaluation was needed of the adequacy of harvest management regulations for the Grand Lake stock and for Oklahoma paddlefish in general. The Grand Lake stock has declined in abundance from an estimated 200,000 to 68,000 adult fish over a five-year period 2008-2012), is maintained by natural, highly variable, and inconsistent recruitment, and is currently dominated by one cohort.

Previous studies of tournament-related impacts on black bass (Micropterus spp.) have concluded that live-release tournaments have minor effects on fisheries. Prompted by a decline in numbers of largemouth bass (M. salmoides) ≥ 458 mm total length (TL) and a high ratio of tournament weighed-in fish to harvested fish by non-tournament anglers, we assessed the impacts of tournament angling at Amon G. Carter Reservoir, Texas (623 ha). In 2007, we tagged 786 largemouth bass and estimated fishing mortality separately for tournament and non-tournament anglers. Instantaneous total fishing mortality was estimated to be 0.14, with tournament mortality responsible for 65% of all angling-caused fish deaths. Our simulation model predicted abundance of largemouth bass ≥ 356 mm and ≥ 457 mm would increase by 6% and 9%, respectively, under a 50% reduction in tournament catch and by 13% and 20%, respectively, if there was no retention of tournament fish.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the population dynamics of bowfin (Amia calva) in Lake Lindsay Grace, Georgia, and to compare those dynamics to other bowfin populations. Relative abundance of bowfin sampled in 2010 in Lake Lindsay Grace was low and variable (mean±SD; 2.7±4.7 fish per hour of electrofishing). Total length (TL) of bowfin collected in Lake Lindsay Grace varied from 233-683 mm. Age of bowfin in Lake Lindsay Grace varied from 0-5 yr. Total annual mortality (A) was estimated at 68%. Both sexes appeared to be fully mature by age 2 with gonadosomatic index values above 8 for females and close to 1 for males. The majority of females were older, longer, and heavier than males. Bowfin in Lake Lindsay Grace had fast growth up to age 4 and higher total annual mortality than the other populations examined in this study.

Harvest is an important mortality factor for male eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). To effectively manage harvest and ensure quality hunting it is necessary to understand the relationship between annual survival and factors such as hunter access, season length, and bag limits. We banded 261 male wild turkeys from 2002 - 2009 and estimated survival and recovery parameters based on band recoveries from 2002 - 2012 on private lands in the pine-dominated landscape of north-central Louisiana. Hunting season length was 23 days from 2002 - 2006 and 30 days from 2007- 2012 with a 2-bird limit in all years of study. We found that survival and recovery rates varied by age class. Adult and juvenile annual survival was 0.30 (SE = 0.04) and 0.51 (SE = 0.10), whereas recovery rates were 0.28 (SE = 0.04) and 0.07 (SE = 0.02), respectively. Direct recovery rates of adults increased when season length increased to 30 days from an annual mean of 20% to 44.5%.

Changing pasture and hayfield management practices have impacted grassland songbird and northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations in the Mid-South in the past 50 years. Non-native species, such as tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix) and orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata), are commonly used for hay production, where they are managed in dense stands that are harvested during peak nesting periods for grassland birds. Native warm-season grasses, including switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) have been promoted for hay and biofuels production and are often touted as beneficial for wildlife. The benefits of native warm-season grasses for grassland birds and northern bobwhite are influenced by stand management.

Scientific knowledge provides an important basis for effective wildlife management decisions. Given frequent budget constraints that impact the ability of wildlife agencies to generate their own knowledge, using trained research scientists at a university is a cost-effective alternative. We describe the cooperative agreement between Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) and Mississippi State University (MSU) as a model of cost-effective partnership that blends science with management. Since 1976, our cooperation has produced 107 master of science theses, 19 doctor of philosophy dissertations, and 301 peer-reviewed publications which have contributed to the scientific literature while effectively addressing adaptive management needs of the agency. We describe the Deer Management Assistance Program as an example of the products produced through this cooperative venture.

Use of trail cameras to make population estimates of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has increased since an estimator was developed by Jacobson et al. (1997). We evaluated the accuracy of the camera estimator in six 81-ha enclosures with varying densities of deer replicated on two study areas. Baited camera surveys were conducted for 14 days in autumn and winter. We also tested the finding from previous studies that the probability of sighting bucks and does in photographs was equal. Finally, we conducted an open range test by comparing a camera survey to a helicopter survey. The camera estimator underestimated known populations of marked deer in the enclosures by a mean of 32.2%. The underestimates were the result of photos/marked buck being 1.9 times greater than photos/marked doe. However, cameras captured >90% of marked bucks and >84% of marked does.

Native grasses and forbs have been promoted in conservation programs to enhance habitat for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). However, high seeding rates and a lack of management result in vegetative structure that is less than optimal. We implemented six management practices (November disk, March disk, March burn, March mowing, strip-herbicide application, and September burn) with a control on an unmanaged field of planted native warm-season grass in East Tennessee, 2003 - 2004, to evaluate effects on habitat for northern bobwhite. We recorded vegetation composition, vegetation structure, and biomass of invertebrate orders preferred by bobwhite broods, 2004 - 2005. Disking treatments increased coverage of bobwhite food plants and reduced planted native grass cover. Disking and burning treatments enhanced vertical cover and openness at ground level and decreased litter in the season after treatment.

We radio monitored 13 raccoons (Procyon lotor) from August 2010 through February 2012 in an agricultural region in northwest Tennessee to ascertain seasonal and gender differences in use of resting areas. Males were located 69 times and females were located 119 times. All den locations were in the ground, tree cavities, or brush piles. Male raccoons exhibited no significant difference in diurnal refugia use among seasons. Trees were used more than other resting areas during spring, summer, and fall, and were used to the same degree as ground dens during winter. Female raccoons exhibited significantly different diurnal refugia use among seasons (X2 = 16.70, P = 0.01). Ground dens represented 69% of female locations during spring, but were not used during summer when tree cavities and brush piles represented 57% and 43% of locations, respectively.

Any deviation (poaching) from hunting or fishing regulations damages natural resources and negatively impacts both consumptive and non-consumptive wildlife users. This study explored deterrents to rule-breaking rooted in normative and traditional regulatory models, and evaluated factors influencing legitimacy of regulations by poachers. Hunters and anglers in North Carolina who had broken regulations (n = 60) were asked to rate the importance of poaching deterrents including sanctions (penalties issued for breaking rules), enforcement of regulations by wildlife officers, and normative social pressure. Respondents rated the known presence of game wardens as the most effective deterrent to poaching and rated factors associated with normative pressure as the least important.

We attempted to quantify hunter use in five publicly managed mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) fields during the 2007 and 2008 dove hunting seasons on Conoho Farms (CF) in Martin County, North Carolina. Self-administered diary surveys (n=845) were mailed to every individual receiving a special hunt (SH) and point-of-sale (PS) permit during both dove hunting seasons on CF. We used the modified Tailored Design method to collect hunter effort and harvest data for each hunting season. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test to determine differences in hunter effort and harvest between seasons and permit types. The adjusted overall response rate for the survey was 74.7%. Only 141 (22.7%) respondents reported hunting doves at CF. Respondents reported expending 801.75 hours (¯x =4.01, SE 0.13), firing 6782 shots (¯x =33.91, SE 2.25), and harvesting 1331 doves (¯x =6.66, SE 0.36) during the 2007-2008 dove hunting seasons.

Restoring historic fire/grazing interactions and increasing the population of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), a keystone species, are two management priorities for North America's grasslands. To evaluate the response of prairie dogs to the fire/grazing interaction, 2-ha plots of uncolonized mixed-grass prairie directly adjacent to active prairie dog colonies on Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge were burned in 2009 and 2010. Longhorn cattle (Bos taurus) and American bison (Bison bison) had access to the sites during both years thus replicating historic conditions where herbivores freely chose foraging patches. Prairie dogs responded positively to the fire/grazing interaction treatments by immediately colonizing all burned areas in both years, with the strongest response occurring in 2009 when precipitation during the growing season was lowest. There was no observed attempt to colonize any unburned (control) grasslands.

Bowhunting is often considered as an option for the harvest management of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in suburbs, parks, and similar restrictive environments. Higher deer recovery rates by bowhunters would promote better utilization of the resource and could lessen some of the objections to bowhunting. Bowhunters have a variety of equipment choices, yet little is known of the impact of these choices on bowhunter efficacy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the deer recovery metrics of bowhunters who used compound bows or crossbows with either fixed blade broadheads (having no moving parts) or mechanical broadheads (having moving parts). Our retrospective study relied on the daily reports of bowhunters who participated in a managed hunting program at the Naval Support Facility Indian Head, at Indian Head, Maryland. All bowhunters were required to pass the International Bowhunter Education Program and an annual pre-season shooting proficiency test.

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) cause extensive damage to commercial agriculture, wildlife, natural habitats, and personal property throughout a growing number of states. There is a need to quantify the location and type of this damage in Tennessee. We surveyed four groups of agriculture and natural resource management professionals to identify how feral swine populations have dispersed across Tennessee in the last 25 years and identify what type of damage they caused. Farm Bureau County Presidents, University of Tennessee Extension Agents, Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationists, and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Wildlife Officers were surveyed in each of the 95 Tennessee counties to identify counties inhabited by feral swine and categorize the damage they cause. According to survey respondents, feral swine have become widespread throughout Tennessee with reported populations in 89 of 95 counties.