Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium

<em>Abstract</em>.—U.S. Game and Fish agencies and farm-pond owners throughout the United States use commercially produced channel catfish <em>Ictalurus punctatus </em>fingerlings transported from the southern United States for supplemental stocking. We conducted six trials to examine whether pathogen load, body condition, and select environmental factors influence fingerling survival following transport and cage stocking. Fingerlings were sampled prior to stocking and weekly for the following 3 weeks. Weights and lengths were measured, and a relative condition index was used to quantify body condition. Skin scrapings and gill clippings were examined microscopically for pathogens, and posterior kidney was assayed for <em>Aeromonas hydrophila</em>. Mortality was either less than 10% (four trials) or catastrophic (two trials). A Columnaris disease epizootic was associated with ~50% mortality in one trial, and a red sore disease epizootic was associated with ~80% mortality in another. Body condition or other pathogens, present initially or acquired in study ponds, were not associated with high mortality. The first week appears to be critical for the survival of channel catfish fingerlings following transport.

<em>Abstract</em>.—Many U.S. natural resource agencies stock catfish (Ictaluridae) into small impoundments to provide recreational fishing opportunities. However, effective standardized methods for sampling catfish in small impoundments have not been developed for wide application, particularly in the southeastern United States. We evaluated the efficiency of three bait treatments (i.e., soybean cake, sunflower cake, and no bait) of tandem hoop nets in two North Carolina small impoundments during the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009 in a factorial experimental design. The impoundments were stocked with catchable-size channel catfish <em>Ictalurus punctatus</em> at contrastingly low (5.5 fish/ha) and high (90.0 fish/ha) rates prior to our sampling. Nets baited with soybean cake consistently sampled more channel catfish than any other treatment. Channel catfish catch ranged as high as 3,251 fish per net series during the fall in nets baited with soybean cake in the intensively stocked impoundment and was up to 8.5 and 15.3 times higher during the fall than in the spring in each impoundment. Nets baited with soybean cake sampled significantly (12 and 24 times) more channel catfish than those with no bait in the two impoundments. These trends did not occur among other catfish species. Nonictalurid fish and turtle catch was higher during spring compared to that of fall, corresponding with low channel catfish catches. Our results indicate that tandem hoop nets baited with soybean cake during the fall is a more efficient method for sampling channel catfish compared to nets baited with sunflower cake or no bait in spring or fall. Our findings validate this technique for application in southeastern U.S. small impoundments to assess catfish abundance to guide management and evaluate the success of catfish stocking programs.


Modern Italy ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Gilberto Mazzoli

During the Age of Mass Migration more than four million Italians reached the United States. The experience of Italians in US cities has been widely explored: however, the study of how migrants adjusted in relation to nature and food production is a relatively recent concern. Due to a mixture of racism and fear of political radicalism, Italians were deemed to be undesirable immigrants in East Coast cities and American authorities had long perceived Italian immigrants as unclean, unhealthy and carriers of diseases. As a flipside to this narrative, Italians were also believed to possess a ‘natural’ talent for agriculture, which encouraged Italian diplomats and politicians to propose the establishment of agricultural colonies in the southern United States. In rural areas Italians could profit from their agricultural skills and finally turn into ‘desirable immigrants’. The aim of this paper is to explore this ‘emigrant colonialism’ through the lens of environmental history, comparing the Italian and US diplomatic and public discourses on the potential and limits of Italians’ agricultural skills.


Ecclesiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-219
Author(s):  
Paul Fiddes

AbstractThe main substance of this article is an extended review of a recent book by a Southern Baptist historical theologian, Malcolm Yarnell, entitled The Formation of Christian Doctrine, which aims to root the development of doctrine in a free-church ecclesiology. This review offers the opportunity to examine a spectrum of ecclesiologies that has recently emerged among Baptists in the Southern region of the United States of America. Four 'conservative' versions of ecclesiology are identified, which are named as 'Landmarkist', 'Reformed', 'Reformed-Ecumenical' and 'Conservative Localist'. Four 'moderate' versions are similarly identified, and named as 'Voluntarist', 'Catholic', 'Moderate Localist' and 'World-Baptist'. While these categories are not intended to be mutually exclusive, the typology is useful both in positioning Yarnell's particular thesis, and in making comparisons with recent Baptist ecclesiology in Great Britain, which has focussed on the concept of covenant. Yarnell's own appeal to covenant is unusual in Southern Baptist thinking, and means that he cannot be easily fitted into the typology suggested. Though he belongs most evidently to the group named here as 'Conservative Localists', and is overtly opposed to any concept of a visible, universal church except in an eschatological sense, it is suggested that his own arguments might be seen as tending towards a more 'universal' view of the reality of the church beyond its local manifestation. His own work thus offers the promise that present polarizations among Baptists in the southern United States might, in time, be overcome.


Weed Science ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore M. Webster ◽  
John Cardina

Florida beggarweed is native to the Western Hemisphere but is naturalized around the world. During the last century, the mechanization of agriculture has transitioned Florida beggarweed from an important forage component to a weed of significance in the coastal plain of the southeast United States. This herbaceous annual is naturalized and found in fields and disturbed areas throughout the southern United States. The characteristics that made Florida beggarweed a good forage crop also make it a formidable weed. This review describes the importance of Florida beggarweed as a weed in the southern United States and the taxonomy of this species and details the distribution throughout the world and within the United States. The ecology of Florida beggarweed and its interactions with crop plants, insects, nematodes, and plant pathogens also are summarized. Finally, management of Florida beggarweed in agricultural systems using cultural practices and herbicides is reviewed.


<em>Abstract</em>.—Baited, tandem hoop nets are increasingly being used to sample channel catfish <em>Ictalurus punctatus</em> populations in reservoirs. However, there have been no published studies to address the effect of soak duration on precision of catch. The effect of soak duration on precision of channel catfish catch in baited, tandem hoop nets was evaluated in three Texas reservoirs. Precision of channel catfish catch was inconsistent among reservoirs when one-night soak durations were used but improved with two-night and three-night soak durations. Although catch precision was similar for two- and three-night soak durations, sampling effort could be doubled using two-night rather than three-night soak durations during a standard work week if a manager did not prefer to leave gear unattended during a weekend. Thus, we recommend use of baited, tandem hoop-net series with two-night soak durations to sample high-abundance channel catfish populations in reservoirs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Emrich ◽  
Susan L. Cutter

Abstract The southern United States is no stranger to hazard and disaster events. Intense hurricanes, drought, flooding, and other climate-sensitive hazards are commonplace and have outnumbered similar events in other areas of the United States annually in both scale and magnitude by a ratio of almost 4:1 during the past 10 years. While losses from climate-sensitive hazards are forecast to increase in the coming years, not all of the populations residing within these hazard zones have the same capacity to prepare for, respond to, cope with, and rebound from disaster events. The identification of these vulnerable populations and their location relative to zones of known or probably future hazard exposure is necessary for the development and implementation of effective adaptation, mitigation, and emergency management strategies. This paper provides an approach to regional assessments of hazards vulnerability by describing and integrating hazard zone information on four climate-sensitive hazards with socioeconomic and demographic data to create an index showing both the areal extent of hazard exposure and social vulnerability for the southern United States. When examined together, these maps provide an assessment of the likely spatial impacts of these climate-sensitive hazards and their variability. The identification of hotspots—counties with elevated exposures and elevated social vulnerability—highlights the distribution of the most at risk counties and the driving factors behind them. Results provide the evidentiary basis for developing targeted strategic initiatives for disaster risk reduction including preparedness for response and recovery and longer-term adaptation in those most vulnerable and highly impacted areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 155798832094936
Author(s):  
Ashley L. White ◽  
Rachel E. Davis ◽  
Deborah L. Billings ◽  
Emily S. Mann

Vasectomy is one of the few options men have to manage their reproductive capacity and take on a more equitable role in pregnancy prevention. While the method is underused throughout the United States, the southern states have a lower prevalence rate compared to the rest of the country. Existing survey research does not assess what men know or think about the procedure as a means of understanding why this is the case. We created and conducted an exploratory survey to assess men’s knowledge, attitudes, and information-seeking behaviors about vasectomy in the Southern United States. We used targeted Facebook advertising to recruit men ages 25–70 years living in 7 southern states to complete an online survey ( n = 397). Using regression analyses, we identify that participants who had a vasectomy knew more about the procedure than participants who had not. Participants who had not had a vasectomy had less positive attitudes about the procedure across all six attitude subscales compared to participants with vasectomies. We highlight potential avenues for future research to understand why this may be the case. Finally, the majority of participants knew someone who had had a vasectomy. This suggests that men disclose having a vasectomy to others. The interpersonal dynamics around vasectomy decision-making and disclosure remain unknown and a viable area for future research. Findings from this exploratory survey may be used by public health officials interested in implementing campaigns to increase knowledge about vasectomy and reduce stigma, which may encourage more positive attitudes about the procedure.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
Lais R. R. Costa ◽  
Monica Aleman ◽  
Eric Davis

Comprehensive reports of the caseload of donkeys and mules in veterinary hospitals in the United States are lacking. We compiled the information of the caseload of donkeys and mules at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis for a ten-year period, from 2008 to 2017. The overall equid caseload was 94,147, of which 996 (1.06%) were donkeys and mules. Most of the neonates seen were mules. Most miniature donkeys were between 2 and 10 years of age, and standard donkeys and mules were 10 to 20 years old. The body condition scores were predominantly high, especially in donkeys. Most miniature and standard donkeys resided in sanctuary and rescue farms and their use was not stated. Most mules were used for riding, packing or driving. Medical complaints represented 62% of the total visits and wellness visits represented 38% of total visits. The donkeys and mules in the case population described here received a good standard of veterinary care with regular vaccinations, deworming, routine dental care, and treatment of ailments. Our study is the first report of the life expectancy, use, body condition, preventative health and veterinary medical care of a population of donkeys and mules in the western United States.


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