Graphic courtesy of Ohio DNR.

Paddlefish populations suffered drastic declines in the late 1800s due to over fishing Since then, habitat loss has prevented populations from recovering and Wisconsin and Minnesota list paddlefish as a threatened species. From the early 1990s through 2003, La Crosse Fishery Resources Office conducted numerous studies on paddlefish populations in the Upper Mississippi River basin, including the Wisconsin, Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers. Larval samples were also collected on the Chippewa and Wisconsin Rivers. Some of this work is published in: Runstrom, A. L., B. Vondracek, and C.A. Jennings. 2001. Population statistics for paddlefish in the Wisconsin River. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 130:546-556. This article can be found by searching the AFS Journal Online.

Over 800 adult paddlefish from the Chippewa, Wisconsin, and Mississippi rivers have been tagged with jaw bands and binary coded wire tags (BCWT) as part of the Mississippi Interagency Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA) basin wide tagging project. La Crosse FRO maintains a tag database that aids in monitoring paddlefish populations represented in the database.

La Crosse FRO has conducted research, in cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, using radio telemetry to track paddlefish movements and habitat use. The FRO has tracked radio-tagged paddlefish in the Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers by boat and airplane to determine movements during and after spawning for 7 years. Results of this work have been published in:

• Zigler, Steven J., Dewey, Michael R., Knights, Brent C., Runstrom, Ann L., Steingraeber, Mark T. 2003: Movement and Habitat Use by Radio-Tagged Paddlefish in the Upper Mississippi River and Tributaries. North American Journal of Fisheries Management: Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 189-205.
  
  

• Zigler, Steven J., Dewey, Michael R., Knights, Brent C. 1999: Diel Movement and Habitat Use by Paddlefish in Navigation Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River. North American Journal of Fisheries Management: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 180-187.
  

La Crosse FRO also used radio telemetry and netting success to monitor the response of paddlefish to a habitat rehabilitation project conducted on the Mississippi River. Results of the pre-project study can be reviewed here. A post project report is in the works.

In the past, Faculty from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and the La Crosse FRO have worked on development of a rapid tool to determine paddlefish gender. A biopsy probe or bioscope was guided by ultrasound and used to collect a non-lethal gonadal tissue sample. Blood samples were also collected to initiate development of baseline data on estradiol and testosterone levels in fish of known sex. Once complete, this database can be used to predict the gender of fish with a blood sample.

Go here for paddlefish related reports.

Paddlefish Q&A and more pictures.

Into the outdoors TV program on paddlefish.

The point of contact for this project is:
Ann Runstrom Ann_Runstrom@fws.gov
(608) 783-8433