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Remote
Radio Tracking
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Lake
Sturgeon with radio transmitter.
Click graphic for labeled detail.
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Biologists
increasingly rely on new technological developments
to help them answer some of the mysteries in our natural
world, and fishery biologists at the La Crosse FRO are
no exception. For the past several years, members of
our staff have been deploying automated radio telemetry
equipment and data loggers as a cost-effective and efficient
means of monitoring the presence/absence of Chippewa
River paddlefish and Wolf River lake sturgeon to learn
more about the behavior and habits of these fish during
critical life history periods such as spawning, fall
and spring migrations, and where they spend the winter.
Typically,
one of these wild fish is captured and surgically implanted
with a long-lived radio transmitter that broadcasts a
limited-range signal at a unique frequency that identifies
the fish and a unique pulse rate that indicates the depth
of the transmitter in the water column. Using a compatible
radio receiver like that pictured here, the location of
these fish can be determined by a biologist stationed
along the shore, in a boat, or in an airplane. Automated
radio telemetry stations on shorelines can make hundreds
of these detailed observations 24 hours a day, 365 day
a year. The biologist, with a laptop computer, can download
data collected over several week or months in a matter
of minutes and at their convenience.
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Transmitters. Click graphic for labeled detail. |
In recent
years, the La Crosse Fishery Resources Office has maintained
a series of automated telemetry stations along the lower
Chippewa River to document
the seasonal timing of long-range fish movements for
the purpose of spawning, to estimate swimming speeds,
and to evaluate seasonal depth preferences for paddlefish
in portions of this river. The La Crosse FRO and Menominee
Indian Tribe also deploy and maintain automated telemetry
stations at several sites along the Wolf River in northeastern
Wisconsin to document the presence of radio-implanted
lake sturgeon near dams that stop their historic upstream
movements to spawning areas in Menominee reservation
waters. Accurate and more complete data collected by
automated telemetry equipment is helping our biologists
gain a better understanding of these fish and should
aid fish managers in making more informed decisions.
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Remote Radio Tracking Antenna |
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Remote
Tracking Receivers.
Click graphic for more information.
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The point
of contact for this project is:
Mark_Steingraeber@fws.gov
(608) 783-8436
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