|
Phone: 573-234-2132 |
Missouri River Native Fish Species Assessment
Columbia FRO staff members have always been active in Missouri River issues. Our staff was instrumental in the creation of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. This refuge was created to restore natural floodplain condition to areas along the Missouri River. Our 1996 report on the distribution and abundance of rare and endangered Missouri River fishes assisted planning efforts for the refuge (Missouri_River_fishes)
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was petitioned in 1994 by several groups to list the sicklefin and sturgeon chubs as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Nebraska Game and Fish Commission reported declining chub numbers in Nebraska while increased numbers of chubs were caught in a benthic trawl in Montana. Columbia FRO staff sampled for chubs with both seines and trawls at a series of sites sampled by Missouri Department of Conservation staff from the 1940s through the 1980s. Our staff found the trawl to be a more effective gear for catching sicklefin chubs and some minnow species. We also found the probability of catching a sicklefin chub in Missouri increased from the 1940s to the 1990s while the probability of catching a sturgeon chub was constant over time. The results of these efforts can be found in our report entitled “Status of Selected Cyprinid Species at Historic Lower Missouri River Sampling Sites” (1998_Missouri_ River_chub_report).
Most of our Missouri River native fish species assessment work is now covered within our pallid sturgeon monitoring and habitat restoration assessment work.
