Dennis L Scarnecchia

Long-term growth of hatchery-reared and released Paddlefish of the Yellowstone-Sakakawea population was compared with wild fish of the same cohort tagged and recaptured up to 19-years later. Hatchery-reared fish from the 1995-cohort tagged with coded-wire tags were released into Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota, USA and recovered as mature fish in harvest fisheries in North Dakota and Montana. Length and weight at age were compared with wild fish of the same cohort over this 19-year period. Wild Paddlefish, both males and females, were larger at age than hatchery-reared fish. Differences in weight at age were more pronounced for females, for which wild fish were highly significantly greater in weight at age than hatchery-reared fish in every year captured. The Gonadosomatic Index (GSI) of hatchery-reared fish was numerically higher than for wild fish every year from age 15 through 19, and highly significantly higher (p < 0.01) for two of the years. In contrast, the ovarian adiposity were both highly significantly (p < 0.01) lower for the hatchery-reared fish than for wild fish for every year for fish ages 15 - 19. Relaxed selection for rapid growth in the hatchery may have allowed substantial numbers of larger hatchery fish released to survive, grow, and mature along with wild fish but grow more slowly and have less ovarian oviposity than wild fish. Results have implications for hatchery releases of Paddlefish and potentially sturgeons, gars, and many other species that exhibit high early growth rates during their first 1 - 2 years of life.

Fishing guides occupy a unique, complex, and rapidly evolving entrepreneurial role in the management of fisheries in the United States. The objectives of this study were to (1) explore a conceptual framework for the roles of guides in recreational fishing, (2) audit and compare guide licensing requirements among states, and (3) as a case study, assess and characterize the fishing guide industry in Oklahoma. An audit was conducted of other state management agencies from their websites and through direct communication to determine license pricing and requirements (i.e., reporting or accountabilities). A census of fishing guides was performed in Oklahoma on a range of topics relevant to the industry and conservation, complemented by a statewide angler survey focused on guide clients. Four key topics emerged from the case study: (1) guide licensing and license fees, (2) potential requirements and accountability of licensees, (3) prevalence and types of technology used by guides, and (4) the contribution of the fishing guide industry to client recruitment, retention, and reactivation. Data from Oklahoma and other states indicated recent industry growth, with states that have guide licenses (31 of 50) assessing an average license fee of $257.07 (range: $10–$1,500). Differential pricing based on guide residence was common (15 of 31 states), with higher average pricing for nonresident guides ($535.93) than residents ($146.48). A “fun experience” and “learning opportunity” were key offerings provided by guides to clients. Guides rated forward imaging and boat-mounted sonar as most important tools they use, while acknowledging importance of first aid/CPR as guide safety credentials. Guides function as selectively well-informed professionals – commercial operators – participating in gradual re-commercialization of recreational fisheries. The emphasis on harvest with most guides (71%) suggests a role in recruitment, retention, and reactivation of fishing license buyers. Licensing agencies must ensure that the guide industry plays an appropriate, positive, and collaborative role in fisheries management and conservation.

Objective
A statewide bowfishing survey of Montana fishing licensees (bowfishers and nonbowfishers, including nonresidents) was conducted to obtain information on values, attitudes, perspectives, and preferences about the sport.

Methods
The survey, consisting of 45 questions, was administered to a random sample of 4,291 bowfishers and nonbowfishers among Montana licensees drawn from the state's Automated Licensing System: 3,538 (82.5%) were Montana residents, and 753 (17.5%) were nonresidents from neighboring states.

Results
Among respondents, 11.5% had bowfished in Montana, whereas 88.5% had not. Of those who had bowfished in Montana, 91% were male and 9% were female. The most commonly bowfished waters were Canyon Ferry Reservoir and other reservoirs in the Central District of the state. Eighteen percent of bowfishers rated themselves as advanced, 45% as intermediate, and 37% as beginners. Of the three species groups that bowfishers typically targeted, 97% said Common Carp Cyprinus carpio, 12% said buffalofishes, and 4% said gars. Of the species most often shot, 94% said Common Carp, 4% said buffalofishes, and 1% said gars. None of these species were highly regarded as food. Both bowfishers and nonbowfishers prioritized more intrinsic aspects of their fishing activities (e.g., being outside, spending time with friends) over actual or quantifiable fishing achievements. The ability to shoot fish was also a key factor in satisfaction, however. Respondents overwhelmingly trusted the state management agency to manage bowfishing for native nongame fishes but in general did not support curtailing current opportunities for bowfishing take with regulations.

Conclusions
Bowfishing in Montana is less popular, with fewer species taken, both native nongame and invasive, than in many other states in the central and lower Mississippi River basin. Management concerns are also fewer than elsewhere and center around (1) potential unlimited take of long-lived buffalofishes Ictiobus spp. (Catostomidae) and possibly other suckers in mixed intentional and unintentional (misidentification) take with Common Carp; and (2) potential unlimited take of Shortnose Gar Lepisosteus platostomus, a rare, localized species in Montana. More information on the fish life histories will aid in sustainable management of bowfishing, provide conservation benefits for native nongame species, and improve the credibility of the sport with nonbowfisher licensees and the general public.

Objective
Construction of Fort Peck Reservoir on the Missouri River, Montana, resulted in the creation of the Fort Peck Dredge Cuts (Dredge Cuts), a complex of flooded borrow pits (total area = 219 ha) located immediately below the dam that has become inhabited by 33 fish species, including the Paddlefish Polyodon spathula. We summarized information on growth and size at age at recovery of Dredge Cuts Paddlefish in relation to other Yellowstone–Sakakawea stock Paddlefish tagged and recovered in the Montana and North Dakota recreational snag fisheries. We also summarized the life history of the Dredge Cuts Paddlefish taken in the 2021–2023 bowfisheries and compared the life history of the Dredge Cuts stock component taken by bowfishing with that of the larger Yellowstone–Sakakawea stock component.

Methods
Paddlefish were jaw-tagged and recovered over a period of more than 30 years at fisheries in Montana and North Dakota. Recovered tagged fish, as well as fish taken from bowfisheries from 2021 to 2023, were compared for growth with other Paddlefish of the Yellowstone–Sakakawea stock with von Bertalanffy growth curves (length versus age and weight versus age).

Results
Partial exchange of fish occurs between the Dredge Cuts and both the Montana and North Dakota snag fisheries, depending on river flows. Nevertheless, the size at age and ultimate size of Dredge Cuts fish was significantly less in length and weight than for fish rearing in Lake Sakakawea, the Missouri River main-stem reservoir where most Yellowstone–Sakakawea Paddlefish feed.

Conclusions
This stock component and its unusual bowfishery has led to the Dredge Cuts Paddlefish being viewed as a distinct harvest management unit with a distinct harvest season and tag system from other Yellowstone–Sakakawea stock Paddlefish. The number of bowfishers and their take should be monitored and any large expansion of the fishery avoided until more is known about the Dredge Cuts Paddlefish stock discreteness, abundance, exploitation rates, movements, and spawning success.

Objective
The Missouri River flood of 2011 resulted in the entrainment of Paddlefish Polyodon spathula from above Garrison Dam, a main-stem dam, into the tailrace of the Garrison Reach. A large group of entrained fish (estimated at 3,083 in 2012) remained in the tailrace for several years afterward, not undertaking yearly migrations downriver to Lake Oahe, where feeding and habitat conditions are better. We assessed movements and quantified growth (or weight loss) of individual tailrace Paddlefish from the time of original postflood tagging, as early as 2012 until 2018, and then assessed and quantified upriver movement, growth, maturation, and gonadal fat (energy) reserves of adult Paddlefish following their trap-and-transport repatriation from the Garrison Dam tailrace into Lake Sakakawea and their subsequent recapture upriver in recreational fisheries from 2019 to 2023.

Methods
Paddlefish were collected with gill nets. Fish were measured for length and weighed at the time of original tagging, in 2018, and upon their subsequent recovery in fisheries. Fish were tagged with individually numbered Monel jaw tags (North Dakota Garrison Reach). Dentary (lower jawbone) sections from harvested fish were collected and aged by established and validated methods.

Results
Of 57 North Dakota Garrison Reach-tagged fish that were tagged prior to 2018 and recaptured during the 2018 repatriation sampling, 46 fish had lost weight, nine fish had gained weight, one fish showed no change in weight, and one fish lacked adequate weight data. Mean weight dropped from 18.1 kg at original tagging to 15.3 kg in 2018, a highly significant decrease. Subsequently, 12 male and 12 female fish repatriated in 2018 were recaptured in harvest fisheries over the period 2019–2023. Four of the 12 males gained weight, two showed no weight change, and six showed a weight loss. The four males that gained weight each gained more than 0.5 kg/year, whereas only one of the six males that lost weight lost as much as 1.36 kg/year. In contrast, nine females gained weight, one female had no weight change, and two females lost weight. Repatriated Paddlefish participated in spawning-associated movements at similar rates to resident fish. Overall weight gain of repatriated fish was statistically significant for females but not for males.

Conclusions
Our hypothesis is that imprinting, site fidelity, and evolutionary selection for upriver movement in sexually mature fish played key roles in the observed rigid behavior of the tailrace fish. The break in their familiar life cycle was manifested in the sedentary behavior of tailrace Paddlefish below the dam and their weight loss until repatriation restored their life cycle. Although site fidelity has been found in Paddlefish in several stocks, more research is needed on site fidelity and imprinting for Paddlefish and other native, migratory, nonsalmonid species with life cycles altered by river impoundment.

Five native fish species, Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus , Shovelnose Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus , Paddlefish Polyodon spathula , Blue Sucker Cycleptus elongatus , and Sauger Sander canadensis , were evaluated with radio telemetry over the period 2015–2018 for their ability to pass Intake Dam, a low‐head irrigation diversion dam on the Lower Yellowstone River, Montana, and ascend upriver. The objectives were to (1) quantify frequency and timing of passage success of the five species past Intake Dam; (2) document the choice of passage route past the dam (i.e., over the dam or via a natural side‐channel); (3) quantify the extent of upriver movement of fish passing the dam; and (4) interpret species results and differences by synthesizing and reviewing relevant key migration, hydraulic, and ecomorphological studies on these species. All species used both routes (over the dam and the side channel) for upriver passage, but passage success differed greatly among species. Overall upriver passage of Acipenseriform species (sturgeons and Paddlefish) encountering the dam did not exceed 20% over the 4‐year study via the two combined possible routes; annual passage rates never exceeded 28.6%. Pallid Sturgeon and Paddlefish primarily used the side‐channel. In contrast, the passage rates of Blue Sucker (97.9%) and Sauger (63.3%) encountering the dam were much higher. Blue Sucker almost exclusively passed over the dam; Sauger passage was split between over the dam (42%) and via the side‐channel (58%). Multiple (post hoc) comparisons indicated that Yearling Pallid Sturgeon passage success at the dam was significantly lower than other groups of Pallid Sturgeon (i.e., hatchery‐reared and wild) as well as all other species. In contrast, Blue Sucker and Sauger passage success was significantly higher than the other species, with Blue Sucker passage success significantly higher than Sauger. Once fish from all five species passed the dam, all fish moved more freely than when below the dam, and passage of fish encountering Gibbs Station, an unimpeded control reach boundary upriver, ranged from 67% to 100% depending on species. Whereas upriver passage past the dam incorporated the two routes, all the downriver passage to below the dam occurred over the dam. The differences among species in their ability to pass the dam, in their passage route (over the dam or side channel) and passage through an unobstructed upriver control reach were related to discharge magnitude, timing, and duration, as well as to life history, ecomorphological, and behavioral differences among species documented in other studies.

For decades, many freshwater fishes native to North America have been written off as “rough fish” and neglected as inconsequential or even scorned if perceived as inimical to traditional gamefish. Across the continent, the exact species included in this category vary but often include members of the families Lepisosteidae, Amiidae, Hiodontidae, Catostomidae, Ictaluridae, and Sciaenidae. The casual or callous treatment of these fishes, although occasionally questioned by diversity-minded scientists and the public for at least a century, has recently come under more widespread scientific scrutiny, as more holistic views of ecosystems and ecosystem-based management are increasingly embraced and implemented. Paradoxically, we are also in an era where increasing technological capabilities have exacerbated the casual disposal of native fishes via bowfishing and other methods, often followed by widespread publicity through social media. Amid this rapid technological evolution, recent scientific studies have identified and highlighted the long lifespans, erratic recruitment, and surprisingly complex stock composition and life histories of many of these neglected fishes. Conservation of these distinctive and fragile taxa has been initiated under the recognition of this life history diversity. As exemplified by the 23 articles in this Special Issue on “Underappreciated Native Fishes of North America and their Management” and highlighted in this introductory article, research on many of these taxa has surged, as has their need for management. Scientific discoveries during this timeframe have redefined our understanding of several of the species and have led to an enlightened appreciation of these fishes and their valuable roles in freshwater ecosystems.

Age information is central to assessment and management of fish populations. Age information must be reliable to have value, which depends on its quality. Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are processes often applied to some aspects of producing age information (e.g., annulus validation). However, we advocate for a more holistic approach which leverages QA/QC measures across all phases of the age information-generating process. Systematic implementation of QA/QC measures in a repetitive process is common in the manufacturing industry where it is known as a quality management system (QMS) but this framework is not well described in the fisheries literature. We designed and implemented a QMS that incorporates QA/QC measures across all phases of fish age information development: Collection, Interpretation, and Distribution. These measures are guided by six principles: Train, Simplify, Validate, Compare, Record, and Improve. In our QMS, the Train, Simplify, and Validate principles are largely guidance for QA measures, while Compare, Record, and Improve guide QC measures. We provide examples of common errors (or sources of error) in each phase, and how the guiding principles in our QMS address these errors. This is a QMS crafted as a holistic approach to managing the quality of fish age information; however, it has broad application as a conceptual framework for other repetitive processes in fisheries.
•Fish age information development can be broken down into three phases: Collection, Interpretation, and Distribution.•Most traditional literature pertaining to quality and fish age information is focused on the interpretation of fish ages.•Implementing a QMS ensures all three phases of age information development are covered by QA/QC processes.•We describe the six principles that guide our QMS: Train, Simplify, Validate, Compare, Record, and Improve.

Objective
We investigated if large Paddlefish Polyodon spathula invest in testis weight disproportionately more than smaller males, as expressed by the gonadosomatic index (GSI). The approach was to assess the relation between testis weight F (i.e., the combined weight of both testes) and fish weight W in the expression F = aWb. The hypothesis was that sperm competition in Paddlefish would be expected (with b > 1) based on observations of several male fish attending a female spawner in a past study in the Osage River, Missouri.

Knowledge of movements, spawning, and reproductive periodicity of paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) is important for their successful management. Thirty gravid female Paddlefish were tagged with acoustic transmitters and their movements tracked in Grand Lake (a 21,000 ha impoundment) and in two tributaries, the Neosho River (NR) and Spring River (SR), northeastern Oklahoma, USA to assess their reproductive periodicity (annual versus non-annual) and their choice of river entered during their upriver spawning migration period (Feb 15 to May 15). Fish seldom occupied the rivers at other times and remained in the reservoir. Telemetered fish commonly used both rivers, with few using only one river each year and none using a single river exclusively over the four year study duration. Although annual spawning was the most common pattern, alternate-year spawning was observed. Over the four-year study, fish demonstrated a slight numerical preference for ascending the NR (96 times) over the SR (88 times), despite anomalously lower discharges in the NR. Results were not inconsistent with two other studies indicating the higher value of the NR over the SR as a paddlefish recruitment river. However, the lack of high flow years on the Neosho River during our study limited our interpretation. In testing hypotheses that pre-spawning fish would enter the river a) with the higher discharge on that day or within four days prior, b) with the greater increase (or lesser decrease) in discharge on that day or within four days prior, none of nine discharge variables investigated were closely related to river choice. Despite some specific instances where high or rising discharge each triggered upriver movements, river choice over the entire Feb 15 to May 15 period as a whole was similar to what would be expected by chance. Entering and exiting the two proximal, low gradient river mouths and lower river sections may have incurred little energetic cost prior to actual spawning.