Welcome to the interactive web schedule for the 2019 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference! Please note, this event has passed. To return to the main Conference website, go to: www.midwestfw.org.
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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE UPDATES & CHANGES: As a result of the prolonged government shutdown, we experienced a number of cancellations and changes to the schedule. Cancellations and changes are listed here (as of January 26, 2019).
AUTHORS. Dominique Turney, Western Illinois University; James Lamer, Western Illinois University; Kevin Irons, Illinois Department of Natural Resources; Kyle Mosel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
ABSTRACT. The construction of dams on the Upper Mississippi River has disrupted movement of the highly migratory paddlefish. Even though important work using radio-telemetry has provided information on paddlefish dam passage and lateral habitat use, these studies are often limited spatially and were undertaken prior to the establishment of the extensive acoustic receiver array upstream and downstream of each dam on the Mississippi River. Lock and Dam 14 and 15 are infrequently at open river conditions and most fish passage occurs in the lock chamber. To better understand native fish passage in this poorly understood region, we acoustically tagged 121 paddlefish and tracked their movements manually and with stationary receivers upstream and at the approach to each dam. Upstream and downstream passage over Lock and Dam 14 and 15 has been observed by paddlefish. A clear understanding of paddlefish movement and habitat use in the UMR will allow researchers and biologists to better understand dam passage of other fishes and evaluate the impacts of potential invasive species deterrents at these locations.
