Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus occupy some 4,500 miles of Missouri and Mississippi rivers and Kansas City was a fitting location to host a symposium for this endangered fish, as the Missouri River flows just minutes from the conference site. This full-day session featured over 20 speakers representing a wide range of state and federal agencies and universities. The purpose of this symposium was to promote collaboration among a multitude of entities that are currently working towards Pallid Sturgeon recovery throughout the central United States. This session provided a forum to discuss hypotheses and management actions related to Pallid Sturgeon recovery and other information that could be used to improve the effectiveness of restorative efforts. A variety of presentations were given on research on Pallid Sturgeon, as well as the closely-related Shovelnose Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, ranging from early-life history to adult stages. Topics included larval drift dynamics, habitat use, prey consumption and condition, genetics and hybridization, population modeling, spawning habitat and behavior, and post-stocking monitoring of hatchery-reared individuals, just to name a few. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was pleased to organize this event and we thank all of the presenters for their time and expertise. Read the abstracts here.
—Nathan Gosch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers