Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Spring harvest of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) has declined in many eastern states since 2010. In Tennessee, spring harvest de-clines of 30%–50% in south-central counties from 2005–2015 caused concern among hunters and managers. To determine how turkey productivity might be related to the perceived population decline, we radio-tagged and tracked 152 females with VHF transmitters throughout the 2017–2018 nest- ing seasons. We documented nest-site selection, nesting rate, clutch size, hatching rate, renesting rate, and daily nest survival. We used conditional lo- gistic regression to determine which landscape-scale and nest-site vegetation characteristics were most related to nest-site selection by females. We used nest-survival models to determine which temporal, landscape-scale, and site-specific vegetation characteristics were most related to daily nest survival.

Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) are an important webless migratory game bird in North America, with more doves harvested than all other game birds combined. To understand mourning dove population status and inform harvest and land management decisions at local and regional scales, there is a need to evaluate annual survival and changes in population size. To provide estimates of dove survival and associated harvest parame- ters at our study area in Cameron Parish Louisiana, a popular area for dove hunting, we initiated a banding study at two sites on and near the Rockefel- ler Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana. From 2010 to 2018, we banded 957 mourning doves. We used 174 recaptures from our study area with 46 band recovery reports to model annual survival probabilities, recapture probabilities, recovery probabilities, and fidelity to our study area. Our point estimates of survival and recapture probabilities were greater for after hatch year birds vs.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease that affects cervid species including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).  As of 2021, it occurs in seven southeastern states, and more discoveries in the region are likely to occur. Hunter education regarding CWD is critical to obtain support for disease management actions that rely on hunter participation but potentially are in opposition to typical hunter objectives. In August 2018, we provided educational programming on CWD to 84 members of a deer hunting club in west Tennessee. After CWD was discovered in the immediate area of the club in December 2018, in spring 2019 we surveyed the attitudes and hunting behaviors of club members. When surveyed five months following discovery of CWD, 86% of respondents expressed extreme or moderate concern about CWD. The number of total deer sightings was the most important factor influencing hunter satisfaction for 70% of respondents.

Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) populations have experienced severe declines in eastern North America from white-nose syndrome (WNS), yet potential secondary effects on maternity roosting and recruitment remain largely unknown. We documented female day- roosting at two locations in the central Appalachians of Virginia, Back Creek Mountain (BCM) and Rapidan Camp (RC), during 2015 and 2016, ap- proximately six years after the regional onset of WNS. We compared roost characteristics with available trees and roosts recorded prior to WNS at the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF), West Virginia, in 2007 and 2008. Roosts at BCM were smaller than pre-WNS roosts but were otherwise similar in terms of stand condition and species use, though bats selected for red maple (Acer rubrum) at BCM rather than black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) as at FEF.

In the central Appalachians of Virginia and West Virginia, the Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus; VNFS) is a subspecies of northern flying squirrel generally associated with red spruce (Picea rubens)-dominated forests at high elevations. Listed as endangered by the

Assessing alternative pond production systems that may reduce avian predation of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is of extreme interest to state/federal and private hatcheries. This study evaluated the culture of channel catfish fingerlings in a pilot-scale split-pond system (SPS) and compared it to traditional earthen ponds (TP). Six 0.04-ha ponds were covered by netting and stocked with channel catfish fingerlings at a rate of 200,000 fish ha–1; ponds were evenly split between TP and SPS. Fingerlings were cultured for 99 days and fed a commercial diet twice daily. Fish were fed 4.0% to 6.5% of their total body weight during the first 73 days, then ad libitum until the end of the study due to reduced water temperatures. Production parameters were similar between treatments except for condition factor, which was higher for fish raised in the TP. Channel catfish fingerlings raised in SPS had a more uniform size distribution than in TP.

The life histories of many organisms are directly tied to floodplain inundation for access to spawning grounds, nurseries, and feeding, but many floodplain ecosystems have been altered by anthropogenic activities and are disconnected from associated rivers. The Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB) floodplain, Louisiana, is relatively intact, whereas the upper Barataria Estuary (UBE) has been separated from the Mississippi River by anthropogenic modifications and lacks an annual flood pulse. The lack of connection can alter trophic webs that include fish species such as bowfin (Amia calva). Therefore, bowfin diets in these two floodplain ecosystems were examined to determine if the difference in floodplain connectivity was associated to bowfin diets. Bowfin were collected by boat electrofishing in the ARB (n = 89) and UBE (n =143) from March 2017 to August 2017. Mean percent empty stomachs was similar between basins, with 26% empty in the ARB and 30% in the UBE.

Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) were once viewed negatively by anglers and state agencies, but interest in reintroduction and trophy management of gar has increased in many states across their range, including Oklahoma. Therefore, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is planning to reintroduce alligator gar back into their native range. Thus, biologists decided to implement a food habits study to determine potential impacts of alligator gar to other fish populations in order to address angler concerns about possible reintroduction. The objectives of this study were to describe seasonal food habits and prey selection of alligator gar collected from Texoma Reservoir located on the Texas-Oklahoma border. Fish were mostly collected using gill nets but 36% were also donated by anglers. Diets were pooled into two seasonal groupings (winter-spring and summer-fall).

Some anglers have questioned Texas’ statewide one-a-day alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) regulation. Simulations suggested other regulations might be preferred; however, angler support for other regulations was unknown. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) administered an online survey in summer 2018 to measure attitudes and preferences of Texas alligator gar anglers. Respondents who fished for alligator gar (n = 3980) were primarily Texas resident anglers; 68% fished for gar using a rod-and-reel, but 23% used bow-and-arrow. Most anglers supported using length limits for reducing harvest, regardless of their primary gear. Whereas 40% of anglers fished for alligator gar to eat, most anglers rarely harvested fish, despite having the opportunity to harvest one fish daily.

Literature on recreational fisheries has shown that many aspects of the fishing experience that are non-catch related influence angler satisfaction. However, satisfaction as an independent metric may fail to produce sufficient information regarding perceptions of fishing quality, which may be a more salient component of the fishing experience from a management perspective. Therefore, this study focused on what influences fishing quality in the minds of anglers. We used data collected from a year-long, on-site survey of anglers at the Marben Public Fishing Area (PFA) near Mansfield, Georgia, USA, in an ordinal logistic regression model to investigate angler perceptions of fishing quality. Anglers ranked the quality of fishing at Marben PFA as 6.45 (SD = 2.19) on a 1–10 scale, and significantly higher (t = 5.79, df = 803, P = 0.001) than similar fishing sites with comparable access costs.

In Texas, freshwater fishes recognized as State Threatened or Endangered (STE) receive special attention when Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) consults with other agencies on projects that have the potential to alter freshwater systems. Regulatory oversight by TPWD of scientific and zoological collections, fish stockings, commercial fishing, disturbances to state-owned streambeds, and exotic species management must also ensure that no adverse impacts occur to STE freshwater fishes. Furthermore, STE species are prioritized by TPWD for voluntary-based investments in research, monitoring, habitat restoration, and habitat protection. Given these and other protections afforded to STE freshwater fishes, it is important that the lists of STE species be frequently assessed using the best available science on status, trends, and threats to species and their habitats.

Marine and estuarine habitats of Florida are biologically productive and economically valuable. They provide a diversity of species with spawning grounds, nurseries, shelter, and food, augmenting fisheries production and supporting a vibrant natural resources-based economy. Additionally, these habitats shelter coastal areas from storm damage, maintain water quality, produce oxygen, and sequester carbon. Although substantial conservation efforts have been implemented to conserve estuarine and marine habitats, these resources continue to be threatened by shoreline development, altered hydrology, pollution, dredging, mosquito-control impoundments, and climate change. Because of rapid human population expansion, economic growth, and related development pressures, Florida faces the challenge of balancing human requirements with those of natural resource conservation.

Recreational fisheries planning and management relies on an engaged public with support in the form of fishing license sales and expenditures that fund operations and provide education and outreach services. To improve our understanding of two minority population segments with low historic participation in freshwater recreational fishing in Alabama, we examined their fishing participation and non-participation behaviors using focus groups. The objectives of the study were to gather information about 1.) African American and Latinx fishing-related experiences, values, and motivations, 2.) constraints that may prevent individuals of these population segments from fishing in public waters, and 3.) constraint negotiation strategies that may enable them to increase their participation. In spring 2018, we conducted nine semi-structured focus group meetings with African American and Latinx community members in seven urban and rural locations across the state.

Old-field plant communities provide habitat components for several game species, including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Prescribed fire, herbicide application, and disking are commonly applied to improve forage and cover within old fields, but plant response on sites with nutrient-poor soils is not always favorable. Although it is reasonable to expect vegetation to respond to liming and fertilization, little information exists on how forage nutrient content and vegetation structure of old-field plants are influenced by soil amendment. We designed an experiment to test the effects of three amendment treatments (lime, fertilizer, lime + fertilizer) on four fields across Tennessee. We tested soils during spring 2017 and 2018 and applied treatment amendments based on soil test recommendations.

Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) are among the most abundant and harvested game birds in North America. As such, their population abundance and vital rates are annually monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with state agencies. Current monitoring indicates a decline in absolute abundance across a large portion of its range in the United States, raising concerns. One theory for this apparent decline is problems with the data used to estimate these vital rates: specifically, biases in the data collection methods (including banding programs) not being representative of the overall population and harvest rates. Therefore, to assess one potential bias in our banding programs, we investigated whether band recoveries of mourning doves in North Carolina and South Carolina are affected by the proportion of urban landscape around banding sites.

Aerial surveys integrating probability-based sample designs have been implemented successfully to estimate relative abundance of wintering ducks in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri, but these approaches have not been evaluated in the Atlantic Flyway except for American black ducks (Anas rubripes) along the Atlantic coast. Furthermore, these surveys have not been used to index abundance of other nonbreeding waterbirds. Given elimination or reduction of resources allocated to the Midwinter Waterfowl Survey in the Atlantic Flyway and elsewhere, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) expressed a need for reliable surveys to monitor waterfowl and other waterbirds during autumn through winter.

Corridors are important for many species, especially black bears (Ursus americanus), which use corridors for juvenile dispersal and connectivity among local and regional populations. Black bears are native throughout Alabama; however, historic populations have diminished, in part from habitat degradation and decreased connectivity. At present, only two small populations of black bears occur in Alabama. One is a newly recolonized population in northern Alabama, whose numbers are growing quickly. The other is a remnant population in the Mobile River Basin that is genetically isolated from other black bear populations in the southeastern U.S. Neither population exhibits the spatial growth patterns characteristic of what small populations could achieve. One proposed explanation for the observed limited spatial growth and genetic isolation is a lack of corridors, resulting in decreased connectivity.

Effective wildlife management requires understanding conservation challenges as defined by stakeholders and developing strategic responses to them. Outlining these challenges is the first step in wildlife management decision making. Research has documented how wildlife conservation practitioners and the public prioritize conservation issues, but little is known about the perspectives of people making conservation decisions, exposing a critical blind spot in efforts to effectively manage wildlife. In this case study, we interviewed 19 directors and 29 board members of state wildlife agencies (hereinafter, decision makers) in the southeastern United States to gauge their perspectives on past and current wildlife conservation challenges, and how to respond to them. We used a naturalistic qualitative approach. Results suggest that insufficient funding was viewed as the primary conservation challenge across the southeast, historically and currently.

Bridgewater Tailrace (BWTR) is a 29-km waterway extending from Lake James to Lake Rhodhiss on the Catawba River in western North Carolina. An 18-km reach of the stream is classified as Special Regulation Trout Waters by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC)and is managed as a put-grow-and-take brown trout (Salmo trutta) fishery. Early studies demonstrated recruitment of stocked fingerling (25?75 mmTL) brown trout was highly variable and possibly impacted by elevated discharge water temperatures during late summer months. Recent upgrades to Bridgewater Hydro Station resulted in more consistent minimum flows and dissolved oxygen levels, which may help ameliorate historical recruitment issues. In 2011, the NCWRC initiated a multi-year study to evaluate annual stockings of 10,000 advanced fingerling (200?255 mm TL) brown trout that were stocked during late fall after the threat of elevated discharge water temperatures.

Creel surveys are a common method for collecting information from anglers, and when biological data are sparse, can provide needed data to help biologists evaluate fisheries. For instance, only 272 trout were collected in gill-net and electrofishing samples conducted annually from 2012-2015 to evaluate an experimental trout fishery in Apalachia Reservoir, North Carolina. Thus, we conducted a 12-mo, non-uniform probability creel survey to determine the return of stocked trout to anglers. Because the impoundment had a remote location, we utilized game cameras at two boating access areas to improve our estimates of angler effort. A total of 1535 parties were observed on cameras and 250 were interviewed by creel clerks. Boat anglers expended an estimated 14,410 angler-h (SE=528) or 32.4 angler-h ha?1 of total fishing effort, with an estimated 3447 angler-h (SE=643) directed at trout.

The lower Saluda River (LSR) supports a coldwater, put-grow-and-take trout fishery due to hypolimnetic releases from the Saluda Hydroelectric Project. The LSR has historically been noted for low flows (5.1 m3 sec-1) transitioning abruptly to peaking flows up to 509.7 m3 sec-1 with seasonally hypoxic water. Recent relicensing resulted in changes in the Saluda Hydroelectric Project operation that were intended to improve habitat conditions downstream. In a multi-year study, a combination of tagging and boat electrofishing was used to evaluate mortality, growth, and angler catch and exploitation rates of catchable rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) stocked into the LSR. Each year electrofishing catch rates and angler tag returns of December-stocked catchable-sized trout peaked in December shortly after stocking and declined rapidly in subsequent months.

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are a popular sportfish in many Tennessee rivers. In the southernmost extent of the species native range, including Tennessee, smallmouth bass populations tend to display relatively fast growth rates and can benefit from harvest restrictions. Consistent with national trends, recreational access and use of Tennessee rivers has increased in recent years (e.g., paddlesports and angling), but quantitative assessments of this increased use on smallmouth bass fisheries are lacking. Popular smallmouth bass fisheries exist in the Elk River and its major tributary, Richland Creek, and angler access has increased in recent years. The goals of this study were to characterize population structure of smallmouth bass and assess the need for minimum-length limits (MLL) in response to increased fishing pressure in the two Tennessee streams. Both streams were sampled using boat-mounted electrofishing gear in May and June in 2018.

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) have been stocked intermittently into the Broad River, South Carolina, since 1984, resulting in a popular fishery. Numbers and sizes of smallmouth bass stocked vary annually depending on availability. Two sizes of fingerling smallmouth bass are stocked; however, stocking efficacy of these sizes was unknown. Therefore, contribution and relative survival of small (mean TL=42 ? 0.3 mm) and large (mean TL=150 ? 1.5 mm) fingerling smallmouth bass stocked during 2005?2010 into the Broad River was evaluated by differentially marking with oxytetracycline. The total contribution of stocked fish at age-1+ in the Broad River ranged from 4% to 47% among year classes and was positively correlated with mean spring (March?May) water flows. Further, relative survival of large fingerlings was 7.7 times greater than small fingerlings.

There is a limited understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of tributary use for riverine populations of white bass (Morone chrysops) during the spawning season. We sampled white bass in 10 tributaries of Arkansas River Pool 4 during their spawning season in 2010 and 2011. Each tributary was sampled using boat-mounted electrofishing every third week during the spawning season to assess spatial variability of white bass spawning. One tributary (Caney Bayou) known to be occupied by white bass during the spawning season was sampled weekly to document temporal variability of the spawn. Average (SE) CPUE was 5.5 (0.9) fish h?1 across Pool 4, with CPUE in Caney Bayou averaging 7.5 (1.4) fish h?1. Although Caney Bayou was used during the spawning season both years, at least four other tributaries were also used both years. Spawning was unimodal in 2010, but bimodal in 2011. Water temperature appeared to influence white bass tributary use. When water temperatures reached 13?

Fish growth early in life typically affects recruitment to adulthood. For this reason, fisheries managers stock fish of varying sizes (e.g., fingerling or advanced fingerling rather than fry, which are less expensive to produce) hoping that an initial size advantage results in improved survival. Saugeye (Sander vitreus x S. canadensis) are hatchery-produced hybrids that are stocked into many Midwestern and southern U.S. reservoirs to create sportfishing opportunities. A saugeye stocking program was initiated at Arcadia Reservoir, Oklahoma, in 2017 when 38,110 fingerlings were stocked. In 2018, 146,086 fry were stocked into Arcadia Reservoir. This provided us the opportunity to compare differences in diet, growth, and mortality between two year-classes of age-0 saugeye stocked at different sizes.