St. Louis, Missouri, 11-13 January 2005
44. COMPARISON OF GEARS FOR SAMPLING STURGEON SPECIES IN THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
David P. Herzog*, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Open Rivers and Wetlands Field Station, Jackson, MO 63755; Phone 573-243-2659; FAX 573-243-2897; David.Herzog@mdc.mo.gov
James Garvey, SIUC Fisheries and IL Aquaculture Center, Life Sciences 2 Room 173, Carbondale, IL, 92901-6511; Phone 618-453-2609; FAX 618-453-6095; jgarvey@siu.edu
Ron Brooks, SIUC Fisheries and IL Aquaculture Center, Life Sciences 2 Room 173, Carbondale, IL, 92901-6511; Phone 618-453-6072; FAX 618-453-6095; rbrooks@siu.edu
Timothy W. Spier, WIU Department of Biology, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL, 61455; Phone 309-298-1266; FAX 309-298-2270; tw-spier@wiu.edu
David Ostendorf, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Open Rivers and Wetlands Field Station, Jackson, MO 63755; Phone 573-243-2659; FAX 573-243-2897; David.Ostendorf@mdc.mo.gov
Joe Ridings, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Open Rivers and Wetlands Field Station, Jackson, MO 63755; Phone 573-243-2659; FAX 573-243-2897; Joseph.Ridings@mdc.mo.gov
Jason Crites, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Open Rivers and Wetlands Field Station, Jackson, MO 63755; Phone 573-243-2659; FAX 573-243-2897; Jason.Crites@mdc.mo.gov
Collin Beachum, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, Open Rivers and Wetlands Field Station, Jackson, MO 63755; Phone 573-243-2659; FAX 573-243-2897; Collin.Beachum@mdc.mo.gov
Rob Colombo, SIUC Fisheries and IL Aquaculture Center, Life Sciences 2 Room 173, Carbondale, IL, 92901-6511; Phone 618-536-7761; FAX 618-453-6095; rcolombo@siu.edu
We sampled the Middle Mississippi River (i.e. Cairo, IL to Missouri River confluence) from June 2002 through May 2004 to compare catch of Scaphirhynchus spp. among several sampling gears including hobbled gill nets, 2 and 3 inch bar mesh gill nets, experimental mesh gill nets, hoop nets, 8 ft Missouri benthic trawl, 16 ft Missouri benthic trawl, 25 ft benthic trawl, trotline, and drifted nets. Sampling was divided among four seasonal periods and stratified across seven habitat types. Over 4,000 shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus) and 41 pallid sturgeon (S. albus) were captured during our study. Differences of sturgeon catch were identified across gear, habitats, and seasons and summaries from catch of directed versus random sampling were unique.
