Fishy Fridays

I am working to complete the last of my self-assigned tasks prior to enjoying a holiday tomorrow, and Fishy Friday is about the last item on my list. Last week, I was in Washington, D.C., representing AFS to a number of Congressional staffers, and meeting with fisheries folks from a variety of federal agencies. I had an outstanding meeting with Nat Gillespie from the US Forest Service, and I learned much about the significant partnership

I spent this week in Washington, D.C., undertaking a variety of tasks for AFS. In particular, I had the opportunity to meet with fisheries staffers from a variety of agencies, including NOAA, US Forest Service, and USGS (all of the USFWS folks were out of town).  Today’s paper highlights work completed by NOAA fisheries scientists, assessing 40+ years of MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program) data on recreational angler catches to determine if latitudinal changes in

Today’s paper was recently published in Marine & Coastal Fisheries, and is a synthesis article looking at what impacts increasing offshore wind energy development may have on fish and fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico/America. I chose to highlight this article because there is also a symposium at our upcoming AFS Annual Meeting on offshore wind, fish and fisheries. The article provides a great baseline of information on the topic, and identifies priority topic areas

In my “new” role here at AFS, the fisheries stories and issues I been introduced to have grown far beyond my Midwestern roots. A few of the folks I’ve interacted with from the DC area, and elsewhere on the East Coast, have mentioned the issue of Atlantic Striped Bass on numerous occasions. Today’s paper, from the most recent issue of TAFS, touch on this topic and gave me an opportunity to learn more about this

Today’s paper comes from the April issue of the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, and I found it interesting because it combined remote sensing and field data collection to assess a river restoration project. The authors did a great job of outlining expected responses in measured variables that would then indicate successful restoration activities. In addition, they compared the cost in time and resources of conducting field evaluations of habitat restoration with the costs

I think about Midwestern rivers and streams often. Most times, it makes me sad. These systems historically had diverse fish communities, stable streambanks and streambeds, and ran clean and clear so you could see the various glacially deposited substrates of gravel and cobble on the stream bottom. Today (as you can see illustrated in the attached photo), those entities are just an imaginary vision, at least in Iowa. But I have hope. I believe that

I had a great week at the AFS Western Division meeting, seeing lots of AFS members and talking fish topics with passionate fisheries people.  A highlight of the week was stopping in and chatting with longtime AFS supporter and meeting vendor Bruce Koike. Bruce has been conducting Gyotaku courses and offering his prints for sale at AFS meetings for many years.  In addition, Bruce has an MS in Fisheries Science from Oregon State, and works

Today’s paper resulted from asking the question, why do Paddlefish restorations work in some reservoirs, but not others? The authors isolated turbidity as a potential difference between systems, and there are documented influences of excessive turbidity impacting foraging in planktivores. Personally, I find this all very interesting because of the increase in Paddlefish work in recent years. The proclivity of breaking world records for Paddlefish certainly has created buzz, especially in Oklahoma and Missouri. That

Today’s paper investigates whether fishing pressure and selective harvest can result in fishery-induced evolution.  This inside look at bluegill genetics helps us to understand if “sneakers” are gaining an upper hand genetically if larger, parental, nest-guarding males are selectively harvested. The good folks from Kansas, and at Northern Iowa, provide helpful insights into this chicken (bluegill) and egg question.  Read and enjoy! https://academic.oup.com/tafs/article/154/1/50/8081668