Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Caddo Lake, along with its swamps and tributary bayous, supports a diversity of aquatic ecosystems and has been designated a wetland of global significance by the Ramsar Convention. The life blood of Caddo Lake is the network of tributary creeks and bayous that drain into the wetland complex of the lake’s upper reaches. The ecology of the main tributary, Big Cypress Bayou, however, has been altered by flow regulation by Lake O’ the Pines dam. Additional threats from giant salvinia <em>Salvinia molesta </em>and other invasive plants, water quality impacts, and land uses have added stress to the ecosystem. Several conservation organizations, led by the Caddo Lake Institute, have formed partnerships to address these threats to the watershed. The Sustainable Rivers Program, a partnership of The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), has managed dam operations to enhance the natural ecology of Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake downstream. The Corps has been releasing recommended flows to allow researchers to gather more information to evaluate the success of restoration efforts. Early monitoring results indicate a potential positive response of the fish community to these flow releases. We present results of flow restoration work and associated ecological monitoring. We also summarize floodplain vegetation monitoring, paddlefish restoration and invasive species management projects in Caddo Lake and the Cypress River basin.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Traditional approaches to fish conservation have focused on the protection of small habitat patches or on individual species at risk of extinction. These strategies have been important yet largely have been too little and too late for widespread protection of aquatic faunas. Such small-scale and reactive approaches also are costly in terms of recovery programs and aggressive in terms of regulatory controls. Further, the linear nature of streams and the networked configuration of drainage systems suggest that a fundamentally different approach to reserve design and protected areas is necessary for effective conservation of freshwater communities when compared to terrestrial systems. Larger-scale, multispecies approaches to native fish conservation offer a more efficient and effective conservation strategy because entire fish communities and the ecological processes that support maintenance of habitat diversity can be sustained before the status of individual species deteriorates to critical levels. Protecting entire communities and watersheds also offers some resistance to climate change impacts, which rapidly are altering flow regimes and disturbance dynamics in aquatic systems. Identification and protection of high-value aquatic communities will provide an important supplement to current conservation strategies during times of increasing threats and future uncertainty.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Texas harbors 191 species of native freshwater fishes, 48% of which are considered imperiled. The primary cause of fish species imperilment in Texas is anthropogenic alteration of freshwater systems, which continues to occur at rates and scales that threaten the long-term resiliency of freshwater habitats, species, and ecosystems. Innovative conservation approaches are needed to restore and maintain functional watershed processes, restore freshwater habitats, and conserve native species while simultaneously supporting human needs, such as flood control, municipal and agricultural water supply, water quality protection, and water-based recreation. The need for an integrated and holistic approach to conservation of freshwater systems has been the impetus for development of the Texas Native Fish Conservation Areas Network (hereafter “Texas NFCAs Network”). The Texas NFCAs Network consists of springs, ciénegas, creeks, rivers, and associated watersheds uniquely valued in preservation of Texas freshwater fish diversity. Twenty native fish conservation areas have been designated throughout the state. These were selected based on a spatial prioritization focused on identification of freshwater systems critically important to the long-term persistence of 91 freshwater fishes considered species of greatest conservation need. Through a shared vision of collaborative stewardship, conservation partnerships have formed among nongovernmental organizations, universities, and state and federal agencies to plan and deliver actions within the Texas NFCAs Network to restore and preserve native fishes and their habitats. Furthermore, the Texas NFCAs Network has increased awareness of the ecological, recreational, and economic values of Texas freshwater systems and helped increase interest and capacity of local landowners, communities, and recreational users (e.g., paddlers, anglers) to act as advocates and local stewards of these systems. By facilitating partnership development, coordinating broad-based conservation planning, and leveraging technical and financial resources toward strategic conservation investments, the Texas NFCAs Network has served as a catalyst for collaborative, science-based stewardship of native freshwater fishes and their habitats in Texas. The Texas NFCAs Network offers a successful case study in multispecies and watershed approaches to freshwater fish conservation transferrable to other states in the United States, with particular relevance to those states that, similar to Texas, consist predominately of privately owned landscapes.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Waquoit Bay is a coastal estuary located on the south side of Cape Cod. The primary rivers feeding the bay, the Quashnet and Childs rivers, are small, coldwater, groundwater-fed streams. Most of the watersheds of both rivers were originally set aside in the 1600s as a plantation for the Native American Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. The rivers were heavily modified in the late 1700s by the building of mill dams and later in the 1800s by cranberry agriculture. The anadromous Brook Trout <em>Salvelinus fontinalis </em>fisheries in both rivers were acclaimed in the early 1800s. Anadromous river herring <em>Alosa </em>spp. runs were created on both streams by connecting the streams to Johns Pond, a natural kettle hole pond. After anadromous Brook Trout populations declined due primarily to habitat loss, efforts were initiated in the 1950s to restore anadromy to Brook Trout in Cape Cod rivers by overstocking with hatchery Brook Trout. After this project, land protection along the river started with the purchase of abandoned cranberry bogs. Both rivers were heavily stocked with Brown Trout <em>Salmo trutta </em>in the 1970s and 1980s to create a sea-run Brown Trout fishery. In 1976, Trout Unlimited began an ongoing habitat improvement project in the Quashnet River. In the 1970s and 1980s, the rapid development of Cape Cod threatened the watershed. In 1988, the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was formed and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts purchased land in the watershed to preserve it as open space. As part of the purchase agreement, a potential well site was reserved, which led to studies by the U.S. Geological Survey on the hydrology of the Quashnet River and the impact of potential wells. In the early 1990s, fisheries management shifted away from the stocking of Brown Trout to focus on the native Brook Trout fishery. The Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge, a consortium of landowners centered on Waquoit Bay, was formed in 1995. In 1997, the contaminant ethylene dibromide from the former Otis Air Force Base Superfund site was found to be entering the upper Quashnet River. This led to the creation of a system of berms and groundwater extraction systems. The failure of part of the berm system led to concerns about fisheries impacts, and a restoration plan was developed. A Brook Trout passive integrated transponder tagging project was initiated on the Quashnet River in 2007, and the Brook Trout population has been annually sampled since 2000. In 2008–2010, adult wild Brook Trout from the Quashnet River were transplanted to the Childs River and a wild Brook Trout population was reestablished. Nitrogen loading from the watershed has become a major issue for the Waquoit Bay estuary, causing algae blooms and water-quality impacts. The fisheries of the Waquoit Bay tributaries have been protected and enhanced by an ongoing combination of land protection, fisheries management and research activities, and habitat improvements involving a wide variety of partners. Watershed development and potential climate change continue to threaten both the estuarine resources of Waquoit Bay and the native freshwater and diadromous fisheries of its tributaries.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>—Aquatic biodiversity is threatened by anthropogenic activities operating across jurisdictional and conservation area boundaries. Strategic conservation planning for broad, multispecies and multijurisdictional landscapes benefits from data-driven approaches emphasizing persistence of priority species while accounting for human uses and stakeholder priorities. This study presents such an assessment for conservation of priority fishes of the U.S. Great Plains. Distribution models for 28 priority fishes were incorporated into a prioritization framework using the open-source software Zonation. A series of assessments were produced, including (1) identification of distinct conservation areas based on connectivity and compositional similarity of priority streams, (2) perspectives for fish habitat condition prioritized towards undisturbed habitat (indicating protection potential) and disturbed habitat (indicating restoration potential), (3) ranking species conservation values at local (state) and global scales, and (4) development of “bang-for-buck” perspectives emphasizing richness of species at state, basin, and study region scales. Assessment highlights include prioritizations primarily among unfragmented main-stem reaches, considerable state-boundary-based edge effects for rankings when using state-based conservation values, and identification of eight distinct regions containing natural communities of priority taxa. Further, we integrate an assessment product into a tiered framework for conservation implementation that facilitates coordination among stakeholders across jurisdictions and increases efficiency of conservation efforts. This set of analyses thus provides varying perspectives to.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Increasingly, fisheries managers must make important decisions in complex environments where rapidly changing landscape and climate conditions interact with historical impacts to influence resource sustainability. Successful fisheries management in this setting will require that we adapt traditional management approaches to incorporate information on these complex interacting factors—a process referred to as resilient fisheries management. Large-scale species distribution data and predictive models have the potential to enhance the management of freshwater fishes through improved understanding of how past, present, and future natural and anthropogenic factors combine to determine species vulnerability and resiliency. Here we describe a resilient fisheries management framework that provides guidance on how and when these models can be incorporated into traditional approaches to meet specific goals and objectives for resource sustainability. In addition to elucidating complex drivers of distributional patterns and change, species distribution models can inform the prioritization, application, and implementation of management activities such as restoration (e.g., instream habitat and riparian), protection (e.g., areas where additional land use would result in a change in species distribution), and regulations (e.g., harvest restriction) in a way that informs resiliency to land use and climate change. Although considerable progress has been made with respect to applying species distribution models to the management of Brook Trout <em>Salvelinus fontinalis </em>and other aquatic species, there are several areas where a more unified research and management effort could increase the ability of distribution models to inform resilient management. Future efforts should aim to improve (1) data availability, consistency (sampling methodology), and quality (accounting for detection); (2) partnerships among researchers, agencies, and managers; and (3) model accessibility and understanding of limitations and potential benefits to managers (e.g., incorporation into publicly available decision support systems). The information and recommendations provided herein can be used to promote and advance the use of models in resilient fisheries management in the face of continued large-scale land use and climate change.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>—The Weber River is primarily known as a blue-ribbon Brown Trout <em>Salmo trutta </em>fishery; however, this river also supports populations of two jeopardized fishes, Bonneville Cutthroat Trout <em>Oncorhynchus clarkii utah </em>and Bluehead Sucker <em>Catostomus discobolus</em>. At least one population of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout in the Weber River provides an important and popular local fishery and expresses a fluvial life history where main-stem individuals grow large (300–500 mm total length) and migrate into small tributaries for spawning. Bluehead Suckers currently occur in the main stem of the Weber River, where they travel distances of 20 km between spawning and overwintering habitats. The habitat for both species has been fragmented by more than 300 barriers composed of irrigation diversions, road crossings, and utility stream crossings. Beginning in 2010, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Trout Unlimited began undertaking barrier removal for native fish as a priority conservation action. Initially, the effort to reconnect habitat was slow and the lack of relationships with stakeholders such as water users, government agencies, private landowners, and utility companies was hampering progress with habitat reconnection. New barriers were being built at a faster rate than barriers were being removed. To build these relationships, a steering committee was formed to secure a small grant, hire a consulting firm, organize stakeholder meetings to identify broad stakeholder priorities, and write a watershed plan that ultimately identified Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and Bluehead Sucker as priority conservation targets. The watershed plan and subsequent stakeholder meetings developed a framework for the Weber River Partnership. The partnership holds an annual symposium where larger watershed issues are discussed. The symposium also provides a platform where all stakeholders can understand the activities occurring throughout the watershed and where there are opportunities to collaborate. The Weber River Partnership has provided a forum where fisheries managers have told the story of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and Bluehead Sucker and the importance of habitat connectivity. Through collaborative relationships with nontraditional partners, the relevance of fisheries in the Weber River has been realized. Further relevance in the watershed is evidenced by the development of a wide range of on-the-ground actions. Fish passage has been re-established at three main-stem and four tributary barriers. Additional projects are in various stages of development, including a large fish ladder that will be built as part of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing project at a small hydroelectric dam, and we continue to be contacted by water users with interest in developing irrigation diversion reconstruction projects that incorporate fish passage.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—A collaborative group of fisheries managers and researchers (Cherry Creek Working Group) took advantage of an 8-m waterfall, 100 km of upstream habitat, and a 3 ha-lake to eradicate nonnative trout and introduce native Westslope Cutthroat Trout (WCT) <em>Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi </em>in Cherry Creek, a tributary to the Madison River. This project was part of a larger, broadscale effort to restore WCT within the Madison River basin. The project was logistically and politically complex and required long-term commitments by state and federal agencies, a private landowner, nongovernmental partners and university researchers. We describe and discuss the social, legal, and logistical challenges that arose during this project and provide our perspective on why this project succeeded in spite of these challenges. Administrative and legal challenges delayed implementation of the project for several years, but all challenges were resolved in favor of the project’s collaborators. Over a 12-year period, nonnative trout occupying the area were eradicated using piscicides, and more than 39,000 WCT eyed eggs and fry were introduced into four geographic areas (phases) that were separated by natural or temporary fish barriers. Population recovery, measured by comparing pre- and post-treatment trout densities and mean sizes, appeared to occur in 3–4 years. We summarize research that documents the effects of piscicides on nontarget species and the expansion of introduced WCT and their progeny to fill all available habitats, along with lessons learned that are helpful to others designing species conservation efforts of similar scale and complexity.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract.</em>—In 2015, the Little Tennessee River basin became the nation’s first native fish conservation area. Watersheds designated as native fish conservation areas are managed for the conservation and restoration of native fish and other aquatic species, allowing compatible uses. The Little Tennessee River basin spans three states (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee) and features a diversity of aquatic habitats that include high-elevation coldwater trout streams, warmwater rivers, and large human-made reservoirs. Although this basin is home to a biologically diverse aquatic community, streams have been impacted by a host of stressors, including logging, dams, agriculture, industrial pollutants, piscicides, and development. Some streams impacted in the past now offer restoration opportunities, and numerous efforts are underway to restore native fish and mussels to streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on U.S. Forest Service land, on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and on private lands. More than 20 organizations, including federal and state agencies, industry, and nongovernmental entities, form the Little Tennessee Native Fish Conservation Partnership. The partnership supports work already underway by partners by providing additional funding, technical and educational resources, and a mechanism for collaboration. Perhaps most importantly, the partnership provides a forum to plan and implement watershed conservation on a landscape scale. Partners developed an online conservation mapper, which houses data, maps threats, identifies focal areas for restoration and protection, and ultimately serves as a conservation plan for the watershed. Current efforts to identify habitat restoration and protection projects are underway.

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Native fish conservation areas (NFCAs) are watersheds where management emphasizes proactive conservation and restoration for long-term persistence of native fish assemblages while allowing for compatible uses. Native fish conservation areas are intended to complement traditional fisheries management approaches that are often reactive to population stressors and focused on single-species conservation efforts rather than complete assemblages. We identified potential NFCAs in the upper Snake River basin above Hells Canyon Dam using a process that ranked all subwatersheds (Hydrologic Unit Code 12) and used empirical data on distribution, abundance, and genetics for three native trout species (Bull Trout <em>Salvelinus confluentus</em>, Columbia River Redband Trout <em>Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri</em>, and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout <em>O. clarkii bouvieri</em>, including the fine-spotted form) and both known occurrences and modeled potential distributions of native nongame fishes. Rankings also incorporated drainage network connectivity and land-protection status (e.g., national park, wilderness). Clusters of high-ranking subwatersheds were identified as potential NFCAs that were then classified according to the presence of nongame fishes identified as species of greatest conservation need in state wildlife action plans. The Pacific Creek and Goose Creek watersheds ranked high in the upper basin (above Shoshone Falls), and Little Jacks Creek and Squaw Creek ranked high in the lower basin. We then contrasted characteristics of a select few potential NFCAs, discuss the practical implementation and benefits of NFCAs for both fishes and other aquatic species in the upper Snake River basin, examined how the NFCA approach could enhance existing conservation partnerships, and discuss how designating select watersheds as NFCAs can create higher public awareness of the value of native fishes and other aquatic species and their habitats.