Paddlefish have long adorned the walls of biology classrooms and restaurants along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and its major tributaries (including the Chippewa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri rivers), but not until 1989 did the Service begin to earnestly focus on this far ranging, riverine species with a paddle-like nose.
That year, the Service was petitioned to list the paddlefish as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Seeking to learn more in order to meet the new responsibility, the Service quickly exhausted the information available on this little known species. However, the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region stepped up to the challenge and offered the expertise of its Fish & Wildlife Management Assistance Offices (FWMAO) in La Crosse, Wisconsin; Columbia, Missouri; and Carterville, Illinois.
"The challenge for the Services fishery program and its partners was twofold," said Greg Conover of the Carterville FWMAO. "We needed to gain a better understanding of the population status, habitat requirements, and movement patterns of paddlefish; and we would use this information to conserve paddlefish populations and restore critical habitats. The Services fishery program and the FWMAO s were perfectly suited to the task."
Initial efforts included gathering existing information from fishery managers, anglers, and commercial fishers to determine population status and distribution in the Mississippi River Basin. This would fill data gaps and identify needed studies. Early efforts included a study on paddlefish population dynamics on the Lower Wisconsin River and habitat use was evaluated to determine whether proposed dredging and island construction would impact paddlefish in Pool 5A of the Mississippi River. The Service worked cooperatively with many of the Mississippi Basin states and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"Efforts quickly expanded with these initial successes," said Joanne Grady of the Columbia FWMAO. "The Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA), a group of twenty-eight states focusing on large river fishery issues, initiated a paddlefish tagging and stock assessment project. The Region 3 FWMAOs teamed up with state and federal resource agencies to better understand paddlefish habitat use and movement throughout the Mississippi, Chippewa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio rivers. This expanded the battle for paddlefish conservation by beginning to address key concerns for paddlefish populations on a basin-wide scale. Carterville and Columbia FWMAOs agreed to maintain the MICRA paddlefish database developed by Tennessee Tech University and operate a coded wire-tag processing center needed for the basin-wide approach."
"Although funding was and is limited in carrying out this charge, these two offices have been processing thousands of individual paddlefish over the past five years," Conover said. "This basin-wide effort with the potential of helping paddlefish populations in twenty-eight states is a beacon of hope for the beleaguered paddlefish and those battling on its behalf."
"As Region 3 Fisheries have gained a better understanding of the paddlefish and its habitat requirements, factors inhibiting its restoration have been clarified." said Ann Runstrom of the La Crosse FWMAO. These include:
- Dams that block migration and alter habitat
- Dams that regulate flow outside of the natural seasonal flows
- Lack of information on life history, particularly early life history
- Lack of scientific data to determine current status of populations
"Not only are North American paddlefish populations facing these threats, but additional threats emerge as human populations grow," said Ann Runstrom. "Some of the more prominent threats include":
- Over-harvest as pressure from the caviar industry increases in response to collapses of caviar-producing fish populations, like the sturgeon populations in Russia
- Water quality degradation due to poor land use practices
"How must we adapt to these continuing and new threats and who must take the leadership roles?" Conover asked. He answered the questions himself. "The leadership role is a shared one. The Service leads in basin-wide coordination and technical support. Each state and organization involved in managing paddlefish populations and their habitats must lead efforts within their respective jurisdiction in coordination with the other managers. Along with MICRA, numerous other river conservation organizations must act to ensure efforts throughout the range are effective."
There is wide spread agreement that changes necessary to assure the future of this large river fish species include:
- Full funding and support for management of the basin-wide database and coded wire-tag processing activities at the Carterville and Columbia FWMAO s
- Expansion and maintenance of existing mark-recapture studies to monitor production of young and life history characteristics critical to management of the species
- Fishery managers keeping state and federal law enforcement aware of the incentives and potential for illegal harvest
- Increased networking between Service programs, especially Ecological Services and Fisheries, so that potential threats are not overlooked and the appropriate expertise is quickly applied as new issues emerge
- Service biologists and their partners with significant expertise in paddlefish biology must share that knowledge and experience with the scientific community and other resource managers through written publications, oral presentations, and participation in multi-agency meetings
"The coalition of federal and state partners are clear on their goal," Grady said. "That is to ensure the survival of the paddlefish and restore their populations to levels that sustain recreational and commercial fisheries."
The benefits of reaching this goal are also quite clear and extend well beyond the fishers who seek the paddlefish in the murky waters of the mighty Mississippi. Not only do the owners of restaurants, bait shops, marinas, and other businesses benefit financially, but those who live in the many river communities along the banks of the Mississippi River gain a cleaner, healthier environment as well as opportunities to see this amazing creature of the mighty Mississippi River and its major tributaries.
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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 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 programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
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