Topeka shiner populations have declined by as much as 80 percent across the species range. Protection of the Endangered Species Act is needed now if we are to avoid extinction and help this fish recover, said Regional Director Bill Hartwig, from the Services Regional Office in Ft. Snelling, Minn.
Once common in small prairie streams throughout Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota, the Topeka shiner is now primarily restricted to a few tributaries within the Missouri and Mississippi river basins. The Service attributes the population reduction to a variety of factors including a loss of habitat due to stream sedimentation and decreased water quality.
Biologists also believe activities that remove or damage the natural protective vegetation buffer along streams, including agricultural cropping, urban development and highway construction, may have contributed to the decline. Additionally, construction of dams on streams containing Topeka shiners has eliminated the species from those streams.
Many of the remaining populations of the species have declined sharply in numbers and become geographically isolated, eliminating the possibility for genetic transfer between populations.
Much of the loss of the Topeka shiner has occurred in the past 25 years, Hartwig said. This is of concern because the shiner is an important indicator of the health of the aquatic ecosystems upon which all fish, wildlife, and people depend.
Previously, the Topeka shiner was classified as a candidate species (a species for which the Service possesses substantial information supporting a proposal to list) under which there is no protection for the species or its habitat. Following a 12-month period of extensive review of all available scientific and commercial information about the fish, and a series of public hearings, the Service today issued a final rule declaring the fish an endangered species. The Service published the decision in todays Federal Register.
A species is deemed to be endangered if it is in danger of becoming extinct in the foreseeable future. Listing under the Endangered Species Act protects the Topeka shiner from direct taking, including harassing, harming, wounding, killing or collecting. Federal agencies that fund, authorize or otherwise permit activities that may affect the shiner must consult with the Service on the impact on the species.
The Service does not expect the addition of the Topeka shiner to the endangered species list to affect the regular practices of most farmers, ranchers and businesses.
Those property owners who are good stewards of their land, and who are good neighbors to landowners downstream, are already doing their part to help the shiner, said Hartwig. The listing should have no effect on their activities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
