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At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
USGS2001

Effects of an agricultural drainwater bypass on fishes inhabiting the Grassland Water District and the lower San Joaquin River, California

The Grassland Bypass Project, which began operation in September 1996, was conceived as a means of diverting brackish selenium-contaminated agricultural drainwater away from canals and sloughs needed for transporting irrigation water to wetlands within the Grassland Water District (the Grasslands), Merced County, California. The seleniferous drainwater is now routed into the San Luis Drain for conveyance to North Mud Slough and eventual disposal in the San Joaquin River. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the Grassland Bypass Project has affected fishes in sloughs and other surface waters within and downstream from the Grasslands. During September-October 1997, 9,795 fish representing 25 species were captured at 13 sampling sites. Although several species exhibited restricted spatial distributions, association analysis and cluster analysis failed to identify more than one fish species assemblage inhabiting the various sites. However, seleniferous drainwater from the San Luis Drain has influenced selenium concentrations in whole fish within North Mud Slough and the San Joaquin River. The highest concentrations of selenium (12-23 ??g/g, dry weight basis) were measured in green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus from the San Luis Drain where seleniferous drainwater is most concentrated, whereas the second highest concentrations occurred in green sunfish (7.6-17 ??g/g) and bluegills Lepomis macrochirus (14-18 ??g/g) from North Mud Slough immediately downstream from the drain. Although there was some variation, fish in the San Joaquin River generally contained higher body burdens of selenium when captured immediately below the mouth of North Mud Slough (3.1-4.8 ??g/g for green sunfish, 3.7-5.0 ??g/g for bluegills) than when captured upstream from the mouth (0.67-3.3 ??g/g for green sunfish, 0.59-3.7 ??g/g for bluegills). Waterborne selenium was the single most important predictor of selenium concentrations in green sunfish and bluegills, as judged by results from multiple-regression analyses. Among bluegills, water temperature also contributed to the prediction of selenium body burdens.

California↗
USGS2001

Precision and bias of largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass ages estimated from scales, whole otoliths, and sectioned otoliths

We compared the precision and bias of age estimates derived from scales, whole otoliths, and sectioned otoliths and by readers of varying experience level for largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, smallmouth bass M. dolomieu, and spotted bass M. punctulatus from Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma. Precision was assessed with the coefficient of variation of age estimates for each fish. Bias was determined among readers and structures from age bias graphs derived from least squares regression. Precision was similar among species for all three structures and among structures for any species, except for smallmouth bass; its age estimates were more precise with whole otoliths. Bias between pairs of readers was found for scales and whole otoliths among all three species but never for sectioned otoliths. The experience level of the reader influenced the bias between readers for scales but not for otoliths. Bias between structures was found between scales and whole otoliths for all three species and between scales and sectioned otoliths for smallmouth bass and spotted bass. Age estimates were unbiased between whole and sectioned otoliths for all three species. Although sectioned otoliths required more preparation time, they provided the best age estimates for the three populations in Skiatook Lake.

Oklahoma↗
USGS2001

Retention of internal anchor tags by juvenile striped bass

We marked hatchery-reared striped bass Morone saxatilis (145-265 mm total length) with internal anchor tags and monitored retention for 28 months after stocking in the Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina. Anchor tags (with an 18-mm, T-shaped anchor and 42-mm streamer) were surgically implanted ventrally, and coded wire tags (1 mm long and 0.25 mm in diameter) were placed into the cheek muscle to help identify subsequent recaptures. The estimated probability of retention (SD) of anchor tags was 0.94 (0.05) at 4 months, 0.64 (0.13) at 16 months, and 0.33 (0.19) at 28 months. Of 10 fish recaptured with only coded wire tags, 5 showed an externally visible wound or scar near the point of anchor tag insertion. The incidence of wounds or scars, which we interpreted as evidence of tag shedding, increased to 50% in recaptures taken at 28 months (three of six fish). Our estimates for retention of anchor tags were generally lower than those in other studies of striped bass, possibly because of differences in the style of anchor or sizes of fish used. Because of its low rate of retention, the type of anchor tag we used may not be suitable for long-term assessments of stock enhancement programs that use striped bass of the sizes we evaluated.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2001

Statistical properties of relative weight distributions of four salmonid species and their sampling implications

We assessed relative weight (Wr) distributions among 291 samples of stock-to-quality-length brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, brown trout Salmo trutta, rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, and cutthroat trout O. clarki from lentic and lotic habitats. Statistics describing Wr sample distributions varied slightly among species and habitat types. The average sample was leptokurtotic and slightly skewed to the right with a standard deviation of about 10, but the shapes of Wr distributions varied widely among samples. Twenty-two percent of the samples had nonnormal distributions, suggesting the need to evaluate sample distributions before applying statistical tests to determine whether assumptions are met. In general, our findings indicate that samples of about 100 stock-to-quality-length fish are needed to obtain confidence interval widths of four Wr units around the mean. Power analysis revealed that samples of about 50 stock-to-quality-length fish are needed to detect a 2% change in mean Wr at a relatively high level of power (beta = 0.01, alpha = 0.05).

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

Tag retention and survival of Age-0 Atlantic salmon following surgical implantation with passive integrated transponder tags

We evaluated an alternative to using hypodermic needles to implant passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in the body cavities of juvenile salmonids. We used surgical techniques to place PIT tags into the body cavities of 3,037 age-0 Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and then held fish under hatchery conditions for 9 months. Tag retention was 99.8% (six fish lost tags), and survival was 94.3% (174 fish died) after controlling for initial mortality (0.7%). A single tagger was able to tag 80–100 fish per hour. Surgically implanting PIT tags into the body cavities of age-0 Atlantic salmon proved to be a viable alternative to using hypodermic needles.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

A night seining technique for sampling juvenile Atlantic salmon in streams

For many studies of the population dynamics, growth, and movement of juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar , it is necessary to resample tagged individuals multiple times. However, common sampling techniques such as electrofishing can have negative effects on fish survival and growth, especially when individuals are repeatedly sampled. We describe an alternative to electrofishing that involves sampling at night with small, one-person seines. Juvenile Atlantic salmon in a small brook were tagged with passive integrated transponder tags and sampled 15 times by means of night seining, day electrofishing, and day seining techniques. Capturing juvenile Atlantic salmon by day seining was inefficient, resulting in a capture probability estimate of 0.18. The mean capture probability estimate was 0.45 during night seining samples and 0.78 during electrofishing samples. The total number of age-0 Atlantic salmon captured via night seining increased 4.5 times after fish attained a mean fork length of just over 60 mm. A much greater number of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta were captured in electrofishing samples than in night seining samples. Night seining may prove useful when electrofishing is impractical, when threatened or endangered species exist, or when multiple recaptures of individuals are desired.

Massachusetts↗
USGS2002

Effects of antenna placement and antibiotic treatment on loss of simulated transmitters and mortality in hybrid striped bass

We compared the effects of two antenna placements (trailing and nontrailing) and antibiotic treatments (treated and nontreated) on mortality and transmitter loss in hybrid striped bass Morone saxatilis ?? M. chrysops (364 ?? 28 mm total length, 645 ?? 129 g [mean ?? SD]) implanted with simulated transmitters and held in the laboratory for 90 d. Although antibiotic treatment significantly increased the time to first mortality in fish surgically implanted with simulated transmitters (by an average of 14 d), we did not detect an effect on cumulative mortality. We also did not detect an effect of antenna type on the time to first mortality, but cumulative mortality was higher in the trailing antenna groups (50%) than in the nontrailing antenna groups (12%). Three transmitters were expelled during the study, all from trailing-antenna treatment groups, indicating a significant effect of antenna placement on the level of transmitter expulsion. Antibiotic treatment appears to be effective in preventing initial postsurgical infection; however, the antenna may serve as a continuous source of irritation and route of infection into the body cavity. The potential for infection and mortality in experimental animals must be weighed against the improved performance of transmitters with trailing antennas.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

Performance of barbed and barbless hooks in a marine recreational fishery

We used an angling study to examine catch per unit effort (CPUE), bait loss, and total landings by anglers fishing with natural bait on barbed and barbless hooks in a nearshore marine sport fishery located in the Gulf of Mexico near St. Petersburg, Florida. Anglers fished half the day with a barbed hook and half the day with a barbless hook. We also recorded anatomical hook placement, severity of injury or bleeding, and hook extraction times for each landed fish. Bait loss, CPUE, and mean length of catch did not differ between gears, but anglers landed 22% more fish with barbed hooks. Loss of hooked fish was significantly higher with barbless hooks, and efficiency appeared to vary among species. Mean unhooking times were significantly shorter with barbless hooks. Anatomical hook placement did not differ between gears and most fish were hooked in the jaws. Bleeding did not differ between gears because bleeding was influenced strongly by hook placement, but barbless hooks reduced unhooking injuries. In this fishery, barbless hooks probably did not reduce hooking mortality and conferred only slight benefits at the expense of reduced catches.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

Quantifying flow-dependent changes in subyearling fall chinook salmon rearing habitat using two-dimensional spatially explicit modeling

We used an analysis based on a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the amount of rearing habitat and stranding area for subyearling fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River at steady-state flows ranging from 1,416 to 11,328 m3/s. High-resolution river channel bathymetry was used in conjunction with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to estimate water velocities, depths, and lateral slopes throughout our 33-km study area. To relate the probability of fish presence in nearshore habitats to measures of physical habitat, we developed a logistic regression model from point electrofishing data. We only considered variables that were compatible with a GIS and therefore excluded other variables known to be important to juvenile salmonids. Water velocity and lateral slope were the only two variables included in our final model. The amount of available rearing habitat generally decreased as flow increased, with the greatest decreases occurring between 1,416 and 4,814 m3/s. When river discharges were between 3,682 and 7,080 m3/s, flow fluctuations of 566 m3/s produced the smallest change in available rearing area (from -6.3% to +6.8% of the total). Stranding pool area was greatly reduced at steady-state flows exceeding 4,531 m3/s, but the highest net gain in stranding area was produced by 850 m3/s decreases in flow when river discharges were between 5,381 and 5,664 m3/s. Current measures to protect rearing fall chinook salmon include limiting flow fluctuations at Priest Rapids Dam to 850 m3/s when the dam is spilling water and when the weekly flows average less than 4,814 m3/s. We believe that limiting flow fluctuations at all discharges would further protect subyearling fall chinook salmon.

Washington↗
USGS2002

Spawning characteristics of redband trout in a headwater stream in Montana

I investigated the spawning characteristics of redband trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri (a rainbow trout subspecies) during the spring of 1998 in Basin Creek, a third-order headwater stream located in the Kootenai River drainage in northwestern Montana. I examined the timing of spawning as related to discharge and water temperature and analyzed microhabitat selection of 30 completed redds in a low-gradient (0.5–1.5%) reach. Redband trout spawned as flow declined after peak runoff and as mean daily water temperature exceeded 6.0C and maximum daily temperature exceeded 7.0C. Redband trout began spawning on 6 June (mean daily discharge = 2.1 m3/s), 10 d after the peak discharge (8.7 m3/s) occurred. The last redd was completed on 24 June, when discharge was 1.5 m3/s. The mean total redd length was 53 cm (SD = 14; range = 31–91 cm), and the mean total area was 51 cm2 (SD = 8; range= 46– 76 cm2). Eighty percent of the redds were located in pool tailouts, 13% in runs, and 7% in riffles. Spawning redband trout selected redd sites based on substrate size and water depth but not water velocity. Fish selected substrate sizes of 2–6 mm, water depths of 20–30 cm, and water velocities of 40–70 cm/s. My results suggest that redband trout in a low-gradient, third-order mountain stream found suitable spawning habitat in pool tail-outs that contained abundant gravels.

Montana↗
USGS2002

Uncertainty of exploitation estimates made from tag returns

Over 6,000 crappies Pomoxis spp. were tagged in five water bodies to estimate exploitation rates by anglers. Exploitation rates were computed as the percentage of tags returned after adjustment for three sources of uncertainty: postrelease mortality due to the tagging process, tag loss, and the reporting rate of tagged fish. Confidence intervals around exploitation rates were estimated by resampling from the probability distributions of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting rate. Estimates of exploitation rates ranged from 17% to 54% among the five study systems. Uncertainty around estimates of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting resulted in 90% confidence intervals around the median exploitation rate as narrow as 15 percentage points and as broad as 46 percentage points. The greatest source of estimation error was uncertainty about tag reporting. Because the large investments required by tagging and reward operations produce imprecise estimates of the exploitation rate, it may be worth considering other approaches to estimating it or simply circumventing the exploitation question altogether.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

Recruitment variation of crappies in response to hydrology of Tennessee reservoirs

Black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus and white crappies P. annularis were sampled to index recruitment in seven Tennessee reservoirs (four main-stem and three tributary storage impoundments). Crappie recruitment in tributary storage impoundments appeared to be consistently higher in years of high discharge during the prespawn period (1 January-31 March). A similar relation was found in one main-stem impoundment; however, crappie recruitment in two main-stem impoundments was inversely related to discharge during the spawning period (1 April-30 May), and little recruitment variation was found in the fourth main-stem impoundment. In general, reservoir hydrology appeared to have a stronger effect on crappie recruitment in tributary storage impoundments than in main-stem impoundments, possibly because recruitment was more variable in tributary systems. Thus, it is likely that crappie populations will rarely have strong year-classes simultaneously over a wide geographic area or even within a single watershed.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2002

Electrofishing for crappies: Electrical settings influence immobilization efficiency, injury, and mortality

Continuous direct current (DC) and pulsed DC (PDC) of varying frequency and pulse period are commonly used to immobilize and collect crappies Pomoxis spp. in freshwater. However, little information is available about the minimum electrical-setting thresholds required for immobilization or how the settings relate to incidence of injury. We investigated the effect of increasing power densities on the immobilization and injury of black crappies P. nigromaculatus (average total length = 154 mm) treated with DC and various PDC settings. Forced swimming toward the electrodes was observed in black crappies exposed to DC, but that was less apparent for PDC. The minimum peak power densities required to immobilize black crappies ranged from 0.10 to 6.5 mW/cm3 and depended on pulse frequency and period. The incidence of hemorrhaging ranged from 0% to 50% and that of spinal damage from 9% to 45%. However, the severity of injury also depended on pulse frequency and period. No fish suffered mortality at or below the immobilization thresholds, but mortality ranged from 0% to 15% at settings above the thresholds. Mortality was observed with PDC settings of 15 Hz only. Fish that were tetanized following electrical treatment were more prone to injury than those that exhibited narcosis.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2003

Evidence of sexually dimorphic introgression in Pinaleno Mountain Apache trout

The high-elevation headwater streams of the Pinaleno Mountains support small populations of threatened Apache trout Oncorhynchus apache that were stocked following the chemical removal of nonnative salmonids in the 1960s. A fisheries survey to assess population composition, growth, and size structure confirmed angler reports of infrequent occurrences of Oncorhynchus spp. exhibiting the external morphological characteristics of both Apache trout and rainbow trout O. mykiss. Nonlethal tissue samples were collected from 50 individuals in the headwaters of each stream. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing and amplification of nuclear microsatellite loci were used to determine the levels of genetic introgression by rainbow trout in Apache trout populations at these locations. Sexually dimorphic introgression from the spawning of male rainbow trout with female Apache trout was detected using mtDNA and microsatellites. Estimates of the degree of hybridization based on three microsatellite loci were 10-88%. The use of nonlethal DNA genetic analyses can supplement information obtained from standard survey methods and be useful in assessing the relative importance of small and sensitive populations with a history of nonnative introductions.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2003

Comparison of electrofishing and rotenone for sampling largemouth bass in vegetated areas of two Florida lakes

We compared the sampling precision and efficiency of electrofishing and rotenone for assessing populations of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in vegetated portions of two Florida lakes. Sampling was conducted at Lochloosa and Orange lakes in north-central Florida from 1990 to 1999. Significant differences in length frequencies were determined between the two methods in 5 of 9 years for each lake. In years where differences existed, electrofishing collected larger fish than did rotenone. The maximum deviation between cumulative relative length frequencies for the two methods was not related to total vegetation, native emergent vegetation, or hydrilla Hydrilla verticallata coverage at either lake. Sampling precision was greater for electrofishing than for rotenone; electrofishing also required less sampling effort to detect changes in the abundance of juvenile and adult largemouth bass. Electrofishing was a more precise and cost-effective method than rotenone for estimating largemouth bass abundance.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2003

Relation of age-0 largemouth bass abundance to hydrilla coverage and water level at Lochloosa and Orange Lakes, Florida

Changes in electrofishing catch per hour (CPH) of age-0 largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides were examined in relation to aquatic macrophytes and seasonal water elevation at Lochloosa and Orange lakes, Florida, during the 1990s. At Lochloosa Lake, stepwise multiple regression revealed a significant positive relationship between the mean CPH of age-0 largemouth bass and the percentage of areal coverage by hydrilla Hydrilla verticallata. At Orange Lake, mean CPH was directly associated with the percentage of areal coverage by hydrilla and inversely related to summer water levels. Thus, the influence of vegetation on age-0 largemouth bass abundance was similar at both lakes, but the effects of water levels were not. Further investigations into the effects of fluctuations in water levels on age-0 largemouth bass in natural lakes are needed.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2003

Influence of flow and temperature on survival of wild subyearling fall chinook salmon in the Snake River

Summer flow augmentation to increase the survival of wild subyearling fall chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha is implemented annually to mitigate for the development of the hydropower system in the Snake River basin, but the efficacy of this practice has been disputed. We studied some of the factors affecting survival of wild subyearling fall chinook salmon from capture, tagging, and release in the free-flowing Snake River to the tailrace of the first dam encountered by smolts en route to the sea. We then assessed the effects of summer flow augmentation on survival to the tailrace of this dam. We tagged and released 5,030 wild juvenile fall chinook salmon in the free-flowing Snake River from 1998 to 2000. We separated these tagged fish into four sequential within-year release groups termed cohorts (N = 12). Survival probability estimates (mean ?? SE) to the tailrace of the dam for the 12 cohorts when summer flow augmentation was implemented ranged from 36% ?? 4% to 88% ?? 5%. We fit an ordinary least-squares multiple regression model from indices of flow and temperature that explained 92% (N = 12; P < 0.0001) of the observed variability in cohort survival. Survival generally increased with increasing flow and decreased with increasing temperature. We used the regression model to predict cohort survival for flow and temperature conditions observed when summer flow augmentation was implemented and for approximated flow and temperature conditions had the summer flow augmentation not been implemented. Survival of all cohorts was predicted to be higher when flow was augmented than when flow was not augmented because summer flow augmentation increased the flow levels and decreased the temperatures fish were exposed to as they moved seaward. We conclude that summer flow augmentation increases the survival of young fall chinook salmon.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗
USGS2003

Comparison of migration rate and survival between radio-tagged and PIT-tagged migrant yearling chinook salmon in the Snake and Columbia rivers

A study was conducted to compare the travel times, detection probabilities, and survival of migrant hatchery-reared yearling chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha tagged with either gastrically or surgically implanted sham radio tags (with an imbedded passive integrated transponder [PIT] tag) with those of their cohorts tagged only with PIT tags in the Snake and Columbia rivers. Juvenile chinook salmon with gastrically implanted radio tags migrated significantly faster than either surgically radio-tagged or PIT-tagged fish, while migration rates were similar among surgically radio-tagged and PIT-tagged fish. The probabilities of PIT tag detection at downstream dams varied by less than 5% and were not significantly different among the three groups. Survival was similar among treatments for median travel times of less than approximately 6 d (migration distance of 106 km). However, for both gastrically and surgically radio-tagged fish, survival was significantly less than for PIT-tagged fish, for which median travel times exceeded approximately 10 d (migration distance of 225 km). The results of this study support the use of radio tags to estimate the survival of juvenile chinook salmon having a median fork length of approximately 150 mm (range, 127-285 mm) and a median travel time of migration of less than approximately 6 d.

Oregon, Washington↗