Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is recognized as a widely distributed and valuable freshwater species, but few reports have described estuarine populations in coastal river systems. We conducted a two-year study to assess the age, growth, mortality, and fecundity of yellow perch in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Fish were collected (n = 2,674) in 2005 and 2006 (January-February) by trap from Yeopim River, Yeopim Creek, and Bethel Creek. Yellow perch ranged in age from 1-9 years, and the catch was dominated by age-2 fish (82.1%) in 2005 and age-3 fish (84.2%) in 2006. Lengths ranged from 130 to 292 mm TL (meanfemale = 231.1 ± 3.3 S.E. mm TL; meanmale = 177.8 ± 12.1 mm TL). Length distribution and age frequency data suggest that 2003 was a successful year class for yellow perch in Albemarle Sound. Instantaneous total mortality (Z) was 0.35 (annual mortality 30%), and was similar to estimates from Chesapeake Bay.

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 600,000 fry and 800,000 fingerlings were stocked in riverine sections of the New River in Virginia and West Virginia. Since stocking began, ages 0-3 walleye have become much more abundant at the upper New River spawning areas. Catch rates in spring electrofishing samples have increased from 3 to 17 fish per hour in Virginia and from 1.2 to 26.6 fish per hour in West Virginia.

River herring (alewife [Alosa pseudoharengus] and blueback herring [A. aestivalis]) within the Albemarle Sound basin in North Carolina once supported large commercial fisheries that have declined dramatically since the 1970s. Overfishing, poor water quality, and habitat loss have been suggested as causes of this decline. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of water quality on the hatching success of blueback herring eggs in the Chowan River, a major tributary to Albemarle Sound. We combined eggs and milt obtained from running-ripe fish and placed incubators containing fertilized eggs at 11 sites throughout the basin. Mean hatch rates at field sites ranged from 26% to 89%, compared to a mean of 92% for control trials carried out using distilled water. An analysis of covariance indicated that hatch rates were significantly related to the dissolved oxygen level and were lower at sites on smaller tributaries when compared to sites on the mainstem of the Chowan River.

We evaluated three low frequency electrofishing pulse rates (30, 15, and 7.5 pulses per second [pps]) for differences in relative abundance, size structure and species composition of catfish species in two north Florida rivers (Apalachicola and Suwannee). Three species of catfish were collected from each river: Apalachicola River-flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), and blue catfish (I. furcatus); Suwannee River-spotted bullhead (Ameiurus serracanthus), channel catfish, and white catfish (I. catus). In both rivers, the dominant catfish species (Apalachicola: flathead catfish; Suwannee: spotted bullhead) was collected similarly with all three pulse rates. However, significant differences occurred in relative abundance, size structure, and species composition of the less dominant species in both systems.

A two-part sediment sampler (stationary base and removable trap) was designed for a long-term study of stream sedimentation associated with highway construction. Before the long-term study, a laboratory study in an experimental flume examined efficacies of our sampler and two other sediment samplers: a modified core sampler and Whitlock-Vibert boxes. Based on the flume experiment, the efficacy of our sediment sampler was consistent with that of core and Whitlock-Vibert samplers. The advantage of our two-part sediment sampler design is that it allows for repeated removal of sediment samples without continual disturbance of the streambed. It also minimizes labor necessary to collect sediment samples. Our sampler is designed for long term monitoring of streams impacted by sedimentation and not for characterization of stream substrate composition.

Stock-recruit (SR) relationships have been reported for numerous stocks of trout and Pacific salmon, but despite the intuitive appeal, evidence of such relationships is lacking for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). The relationship between number of adults spawning in a stream and the subsequent number of young produced can be used by management to predict year class strength. Disruptions of SR relationships (for species that exhibit strong relationships) can be indicative of environmental perturbations or habitat impairment. As part of a long-term study we have estimated brook trout abundance and measured habitat and water quality in 25 headwater streams in West Virginia since 2003. These streams span 4 geologies and include: Hampshire group, Mauch Chunk, Chemung, Pottsville, and Pottsville streams limed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

We conducted acoustic surveys at National Park Service and state park properties in south-central West Virginia to create bat habitat association models across a large, topographically complex and relatively intact Appalachian Hardwood landscape representative of the Allegheny Plateau portion of the central Appalachians. We developed generalized and species-specific groups of a priori habitat association models to predict bat presence using various microhabitat and landscape features linked to body-size, wing morphology, food habits and echolocation call characteristics for seven species. Habitat associations for the species generally followed expectations based on previous research in the region.

State wildlife management agencies use harvest regulations to manage white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herds at sustainable levels while providing recreational opportunities for sportspersons. State agencies face increasing challenges when managing white-tailed deer because hunter expectations and satisfaction levels vary. Changes in harvest regulations that may influence hunter expectations and satisfaction should be evaluated by state agencies considering alternative management strategies. We conducted a mail survey of white-tailed deer hunters in Arkansas to evaluate opinions of what constituted a “quality deer” and to determine which factors contributed to hunter expectations for an enjoyable deer season. Sixty-six percent of respondents felt that the chance to harvest a mature buck was an extremely important component of an enjoyable hunting season. Forty-four percent of respondents thought the opportunity of seeing deer while hunting was important.

We conducted a five-year study during the 2001-2005 hunting seasons to determine the economic impacts of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunting in Mississippi. Activity days for state residents ranged from 2,390,619 to 3,181,957 and for non-residents, 265,103 to 357,253. Total economic impacts ranged from US $761 million to $1.03 billion (in 2007 dollars). Over the five years, number of full- and part-time jobs supported by deer hunting activities ranged from 26,489 to 37,888. Aggregated economic sectors benefiting the most were services, manufacturing, and trade. Statewide economic multipliers were low (from 1.63 to 1.65) compared to other types of recreation expenditures but nevertheless represent a $1.63 to $1.65 return on every dollar spent on white-tailed deer hunting in Mississippi.

As exurbia becomes more dominant in our landscape, the number of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in parklands surrounded by housing increases and creates new challenges in deer management. Traditional harvest regimes often are not possible in areas with heavy human use. Instead, many managers use controlled hunts to reduce deer abundance. We studied the efficacy of a two-day controlled shotgun hunt on Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area, Cecil County, Maryland. Deer density was 48 deer/km2, adult sex ratio was 5.3 does/buck (SE = 1.45), and fawn-doe ratio was 0.88 fawns/doe (SE = 0.054). The average fecundity for adults, yearlings, and fawns were 1.76, 1.44, and 0.06 fetuses/doe, respectively. Survival rate of adult does was 0.66 (SE = 0.07), with harvest as the most prominent mortality cause (85.7%), followed by deer auto collisions (14.3%).

Quality deer management (QDM) advocates the protection of younger-age white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) bucks, but the subsequent survival of these animals remains unknown. We conducted a study to investigate the impact and importance of harvest and non-harvest mortality factors on adult male white-tailed deer in Mississippi on areas managed under QDM. We captured 408 deer and fitted 238 adult bucks with radio collars from February 1990 until January 1997. During the study, we documented 185 mortalities, which were used to estimate survival and cause-specific mortality rates. Harvest-related and natural mortality accounted for 75% and 12% of buck losses, respectively. Annual survival rates ranged from 0.50 to 0.82 and differed among age classes. Seasonal survival rates ranged from 0.48 to 1.0, with survival during February-September greater than during October-January.

Despite recent stabilization in measured indices, American woodcock (Scolopax minor) populations have demonstrated long-term population declines since 1968 as measured by the Federal Singing-Ground and Wing-Collection surveys. We quantified long-trends in annual sex and age ratios, recruitment index, and changes in body mass of 3,022 woodcock harvested in eastern Texas during winters of 1977-78 through 2002-03. The mean juvenile:adult ratio was 0.58 and none of the annual values exceeded 1.0. This ratio declined significantly over time for females. The male:female ratio for all birds also declined from 1977 to 2002. The calculated recruitment index (number of harvested young/harvested female) of 1.03 for this population was nearly 50% lower than the published (1.9) Federal index for Texas from 1963-2005. There was a negative yearly trend in wintering body mass for adult males and adult females, with both groups experiencing a 3% decline.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was designed to remove highly erodible cropland from production. Although wildlife habitat benefits are an important component of CRP, millions of hectares of CRP do not produce optimal wildlife benefit because of poor cover crop choice. Kentucky-31 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea; hereafter, fescue) was one of the most commonly planted grasses on CRP fields but provides relatively poor habitat for grassland birds such as northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus). Control of fescue and release of a latent native plant community may enhance habitat value of CRP fields for northern bobwhite and other grassland birds. During 1999-2000, we evaluated effects of various spring herbicide applications, both singular and in combination, on vegetation structure and composition in fescue-dominated CRP fields. Glyphosate produced the poorest fescue control, released an undesirable johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) stand, and suppressed legumes.

Go Fish Georgia is an initiative intended to boost the state's economic development while transforming Georgia into a world-class fishing destination. The initiative will capitalize on Georgia's diverse fishing opportunities and provide improved fishing and recreation access points throughout Georgia. The three primary goals of Go Fish Georgia are to: 1) improve the quality of fishing in Georgia waters by enhancing fish habitat and by improving fish stocks including the construction of a new state-of-the-art hatchery/research facility, 2) develop and/or improve access to Georgia waters from smaller, underutilized aquatic resources up to the development of a system of major fishing event access areas on Georgia's larger reservoirs and rivers, and 3) increase fishing participation by promoting Georgia resources through a new Go Fish Georgia Center.

Ecological restoration projects have come and gone over the years. Some have succeeded and others have failed. The projects that have succeeded in the long run have one element in common: society decided to adopt and support the fundamental concepts of the restoration project. The Missouri Department of Conservation's (MDC) Alligator Gar Restoration project began with almost immediate support for various reasons. This was not by accident. MDC involved the Missouri public in a variety of ways to gain social acceptance for a species that had been hated for decades. Our presentation will outline the different steps that MDC took to ensure a good response from Missouri residents. These steps allowed us to put youth to work, recruit future fish biologists, gain a substantial workforce to complete research, acquire free media attention, all while gaining public support for the project.

Fish movement is an important ecological component to the any lotic ecosystem. The Ohio River was once a large free-flowing system, but since the early 1880s this large river system has been altered to its current state of navigation pools and tailwater reaches. To determine movement of highly migratory fish species, a study was conducted on sauger, hybrid striped bass, and paddlefish to ascertain movement patterns and the influence of riverine conditions. Fish were inserted with either t-bar anchor tags (sauger and hybrid striped bass) or coded wire tags with elastomer marks (paddlefish). Movement of sauger was primarily in the upstream direction with greater than 50% displaying movement through at least one lock and dam complex. Interestingly, less than 1% of all sauger tags returns were from fish moving in a downstream direction. Hybrid striped bass displayed an equal tendency to move in both directions.

Catfish in the Ohio River have been a target of commercial fishers for years and are increasingly being sought by hook and line enthusiasts as well. Because of this growing popularity, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife began looking at age and growth of channel, blue, and flathead catfish in 2004. Capture methods included obtaining fish from sport anglers and using hoop nets, trotlines, and electrofishing. By 2007, otoliths from nearly 1,000 catfish have been examined. Of the three species of catfish present in the Ohio River, blue catfish grows the fastest followed by flathead catfish. However, there is considerable variability in fish length and weight for the same aged catfish. Differences in growth also exist between male and female catfish for two of the three species. Blue and flathead catfish males and females grow at similar rates up to approximately 34-36 inches. After that point male growth in length and weight surpass females in both species.

Over a century of coal mining in the Cheat River watershed in northern West Virginia resulted in abandoned coal mines that have generated massive amounts of acid mine drainage (AMD) and depressed or eliminated fish populations in Cheat River and Cheat Lake. However, approximately 185 land reclamation and water treatment projects have been completed since 1994 in order to reduce AMD in the Cheat watershed and restore fish populations. A rotary drum neutralization station was constructed on Blackwater River in the upper Cheat watershed in 1994. This restored 6.5-km of trout water on the Blackwater River and provides some alkalinity to the Cheat River. Fish surveys at Seven Islands on Cheat River downstream of the Blackwater in 1959, 1973, 1980, and 1999 produced standing crops of 67, 30, 24, and 65 kg/ha. Historic AMD input from Blackwater River and improvements from neutralization in 1994 are reflected in this data.

Intersex is a gonadal abnormality in which both testicular and ovarian tissues are present in an organism known to be gonochoristic. This condition has been observed in several locations, one of which is the Potomac River. There are several chemical contaminants with endocrine disrupting properties that have been suggested as possible contributors to intersex. The purpose of this study is to analyze what contaminants are present, and to determine if these have any effect on sperm quality or intersex severity in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the Potomac. Samples were collected by boat electrofishing in May 2006 from three sites in the South Branch of the Potomac River and one site in the Gauley River. The three South Branch sites are in areas with historically high intersex occurrence. The site on the Gauley serves as the control site. Gonads were collected from 38 male fish.

Recently an intersex condition, defined as the presence of oocytes in the testes of male gonochoristic fish, has been observed in smallmouth bass in the South Branch of the Potomac River, West Virginia, which indicates exposure to exogenous estrogens. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) are generally hydrophobic and would tend to be found within the sediment of aquatic environments. Few studies have attempted to show the effects of exposure to EDCs on fish using sediment chemical extracts. We have developed a mass sediment extraction technique to determine the effects of extracted chemicals from three sites (Springfield, Petersburg, and Franklin) on reproductive performance of adult mating pairs of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) for 14 days. Sediments were divided, sonicated separately with two solvents (hexane and ethyl acetate:acetone (50:50), and filtered three times.

The recent spread of the swim bladder nematode parasite, Anguillicola crassus, in American eels (Anguilla rostrata) along the Atlantic coast has caused concern among biologists and fishery managers. This study documented the presence of A. crassus in yellow-phase American eels on the Shenandoah River, West Virginia. Two hundred eels were collected at Millville Dam during fall 2006 and summer 2007. Swim bladders were removed and examined for the presence of the adult nematode parasite. The number of adult parasites in each eel was recorded, and prevalence (percent of infected eels), intensity (number of nematodes per infected host), and mean intensity (average number of nematodes per infected host in a sample of hosts) were calculated. We plan to measure the relationship between length and age to parasite infestation rate. This is the first study that confirms the presence of A. crassus in the upper freshwater portion of the Potomac River watershed.

Muskellunge Esox masquinongy ohioensis were examined to determine biological characteristics, movement patterns, and habitat preferences, and to evaluate these characteristics between a catch-and-release reach and standard regulation reaches on Middle Island Creek, a stream in west central West Virginia. Between 2002 and 2007, 245 muskellunge were collected 371 times with pDC-boatmounted electrofishing equipment. Individual fish were measured, and muskellunge great than 450 mm were inserted with two different tags prior to release. Release locations were noted with global positioning system (GPS) and later included into a fisheries geographic information system (GIS). Sixty-eight fish were recaptured 142 times during subsequent electrofishing-based surveys and via anglers. Recaptured locations were noted with GPS, included in the GIS, and compared with initial capture locations. Movement patterns and growth rates varied between sexes.

The estimation of fish abundance in small streams is often accomplished with removal sampling and an electrofisher. Several electrofishing gears are available, and studies have compared different gear types as well as different sampling techniques, such as the number of passes, with the same equipment. We conducted seven-pass electrofishing removal sampling with two sampling gears (a backpack DC electrofisher and a parallel wire AC electrofisher) within the upper Greenbrier River drainage, West Virginia. We compared the two gear types at 10 paired-sites based on capture efficiencies. Estimates of capture efficiencies (from binary logit analysis) between parallel wire and backpack methods were based on capture data of adults of three relatively common species; western blacknose dace (Rhinichthys obtusus), fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare), and mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi).

A need exists within the natural resource community for an inexpensive and rapid technique for mapping and quantifying benthic habitat features of navigable river systems. Habitat mapping and assessment are critical components of research and management of aquatic fauna and the systems they inhabit. Unlike more expensive side scanning sonar units, the Humminbird side imaging system employs a transducer that can be mounted directly to the transom of a small boat thus enabling the survey of streams that include shallow, rocky areas. Our field experience with the Humminbird 981c has demonstrated this device can be used to easily obtain high-resolution, geo-spatially referenced images of riverbed habitat. Such images might then be organized and analyzed within a geographic information system (GIS).

The Greenbrier Sporting Club initiated a voluntary stream enhancement and restoration effort to restore trout habitat in nearly 4.02 km of Howard Creek, a perennial stream located near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Howard Creek, which has a 170.94 km2 watershed, receives runoff from the town of White Sulphur Springs, flows through the Greenbrier Resort, and ultimately drains into the Greenbrier River. The effects of urbanization and historic stream modifications have degraded stream habitat and function within Howard Creek. More specifically, channel armoring, sedimentation, unstable stream banks, and higher instream temperatures have severely impaired trout habitat conditions. In May 2001, Williamsburg Environmental Group, Inc. (WEG) and the Greenbrier Sporting Club began a cooperative effort to restore trout populations.