Paddlefish/Sturgeon Committee
Chairperson: George Scholten, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency,
P.O. Box 40747, Ellington Agricultural Center, Nashville, TN 37204, (615)
781-6575, FAX (615) 781-6667, george.scholten@state.tn.us
MICRA's Paddlefish/Sturgeon Committee was formed in
1992 to address the needs of paddlefish
and sturgeon species inhabiting the Mississippi River Basin, and to provide
guidance for their future
management. During that same year the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service developed a National
Plan for the management and conservation of paddlefish and sturgeon species in
the United States. The
purpose of that framework plan was to reduce duplication of efforts within the
Service and to better coordinate
federal, state, and private efforts (National
Paddlefish and Sturgeon Steering Committee 1992).
Four of nine paddlefish and sturgeon species
identified in a National Framework Plan are endemic
to the Mississippi River Basin. These include the
paddlefish,
lake sturgeon, shovelnose
sturgeon and pallid
sturgeon which inhabit the Basin's
large rivers, lakes, impoundments, and oxbow lakes.
A fifth species, the Alabama sturgeon,
occurs in the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway, a man-made distributary of the
Basin. The National Framework Plan was intended to develop a national
perspective defining the Service's role in paddlefish and sturgeon
management, coordinating Service
activities related to these species, and for developing partnerships within the
Basin states for their management. MICRA was identified as the key
coordinating body for the management of fisheries populations in the Mississippi
River Basin.
Historically, with the exception of the
pallid and Alabama sturgeons, all species were commercially important in the
Mississippi River Basin. By the late 1890's, however, overfishing, habitat
losses from the construction of dams, and watershed development and alteration
had caused a severe decline in many stocks. Historically, the paddlefish was
widely distributed throughout the basin, but presently occurs only in large
numbers where it is intensively managed. Lake sturgeon, listed as endangered in
some states, were never found south of Arkansas. The federally endangered
pallid sturgeon was historically restricted to the Missouri River and the lower
Mississippi River drainages, and the shovelnose sturgeon is still widely
distributed, but populations appear to be declining in many areas.
MICRA's Paddlefish/Sturgeon Committee
developed its own Strategic Plan for addressing issues related to paddlefish and
sturgeon management in 1993. The goals of that plan include the following:
Goal 1: Identify and prioritize issues
and concerns affecting paddlefish and sturgeon resources in the Mississippi
River Basin and develop a mechanism for addressing them.
Goal 2: Facilitate communication and coordination among entities
responsible for paddlefish and sturgeon resource management in the Mississippi
River Basin.
Goal 3: Develop a basin-wide information management program based upon
standard methods for collecting and reporting paddlefish and sturgeon fishery
resource data.
Goal 4: Identify and coordinate paddlefish and sturgeon research,
management, culture and recovery programs.
Goal 5: Facilitate basin-wide conservation, protection, and restoration of
paddlefish and sturgeon habitats.
Goal 6: Seek basin-wide consensus regarding paddlefish and sturgeon
conservation and management through development of uniform, compatible
regulations and policies.
Goal 7: Increase the public's (1) awareness of the existence of paddlefish
and sturgeon species, (2) appreciation of the ecological and economic importance
of these species, and (3) understanding of the environmental and human‑related
impacts that threaten their welfare and continued existence.
In 1994 the Committee initiated a
Basinwide Paddlefish Stock Assessment to document
paddlefish stock size, movement, distribution and potential spawning sites.
This effort involved the cooperative efforts and equipment sharing of 22 states,
numerous colleges and universities, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
USGS Biological Services Division. This project involved marking tens of
thousands of wild-caught paddlefish and more than a million of hatchery reared
paddlefish fish with coded wire tags. Data collection and analysis
continues, and a basinwide assessment in being prepared.
The Committee has also developed
genetic guidelines for the stocking and release of
paddlefish in the Basin.