New Cats

[Danoinark]

From the Harrison, AR Daily Times:

River’s population swells

By DAVID HOLSTED

Times Staff davidh@harrisondaily.com

Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 11:59 AM

GRINDER’S FERRY — Anyone who has ever dissected anything in biology class could appreciate Shawn Hodge’s task.

Hunched over a pan containing a wiggling channel catfish, Hodges carefully made an incision in the fish’s side. With an intern holding down the patient, Hodges, a fish biologist with the National Park Service, carefully inserted a transmitter into the fish’s body.

Searcy County Judge Johnny Hinchey (right) inspects a truck load of channel catfish from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission hatchery in Lonoke. Hinchey was on hand Monday when 600 fish were released into the Buffalo River at Grinder’s Ferry.

As Hodges worked, he mused about what the fish might be thinking.

“I’m pretty sure this is going somewhere it shouldn’t,” said the catfish via Hodges as the transmitter went in.

Unlike high school biology class experiments, Hodges’ subject, along with about 29 others, lived ( “I’ve never been sued for malpractice,” Hodges joked). And unlike the transmitter in the fish’s opinion, the catfish itself went exactly where it should have — into the Buffalo River.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, in cooperation with the Buffalo National River, released about 600 channel catfish with an average length of about 12 inches into the Buffalo River in Searcy County on Monday. The release is part of a four-year plan by the AGFC to bring back a fish species that was once plentiful in the Buffalo.

*

“The river is less natural without the channel catfish,” said Ken Shirley, district fisheries supervisor for the AGFC.

The fish were hatched at the Joe Hogan State Fish Hatchery in Lonoke from brood stock caught in the lower White River. The transmitters in the 30 select catfish can be tracked from boat or airplane and will allow fish and wildlife officials to track the movement of the fish. In addition to the transmitter-equipped fish, the other 570 or so fish were tagged.

Shirley said fishermen who catch a tagged catfish are asked to contact the AGFC, telling where the fish was caught. If the fisherman sends in the tag, the AGFC will give him $5. Should a transmittered catfish be caught, the AGFC will send the fisherman $25. Shirley said the last time a release was made, in 2005, the AGFC received 116 tags from one address.

According to Hodges, the transmitters will last for about a year and they will be checked on a weekly basis. Data from the transmitters will tell officials, among other things, whether the catfish in the fall will migrate to the White River, and if so, if they return to the Buffalo River next year. Hodges said the heavy rains this spring and the resulting higher waters have made a perfect year for the release.

The channel catfish are one of about 79 species of fish found in the Buffalo, Hodges said. As late as the 1930s, channel catfish were plentiful in the river, but in recent decades, their numbers have declined substantially.

That fact was corroborated by Marshall Mayor James Busbee, who along with Searcy County Judge Johnny Hinchey, watched the release. Busbee said he grew up fishing all along the Buffalo and there were plenty of catfish then. There have been none in recent years.

Mark DePoy, fire and resource management chief for the Buffalo National River, credited Busbee and Hinchey with being a major influence in the decision to release the catfish. Many local people had contacted Searcy County officials about getting catfish back into the river.

Busbee agreed that he and Hinchey had cooperated with the AGFC and the National Park Service to get the catfish.

“Not everybody comes to the Buffalo to float and camp,” Busbee said. “Some come to fish. This is just one more attraction to get tourists to come to the Buffalo River.”

Hinchey was also hopeful that the return of the catfish would attract both local and visiting anglers to the river.

“The whole outlook on the river has been take, take, take,” he said. “Maybe they’ll give back a little.”

[bobber]

this was the second load of fish... the first load hit the little buffalo 4 to 6 weeks ago, but your not suppose to know !

[Danoinark]

this was the second load of fish... the first load hit the little buffalo 4 to 6 weeks ago, but your not suppose to know !

Oooops

but nothing surprises me.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Why the decline? I didn't see that explained, unless I missed it. I would think that strange in a protected river.

Flatheads?

[drew03cmc]

Overharvesting by some of less than ideal morals?

[Al Agnew]

Overharvest could be a significant factor, but I suspect another factor is simply the White River. Basically the Buffalo is a closed system for warmwater fish since the dams on the White. As catfish declined from overharvest or maybe some other factor, there have been no catfish replenishing the river from the White, since it's too cold for catfish.

[hoglaw]

The last time they did a tagged study, I was told the catfish were winding up in the delta, meaning that at one point or another during their life cycle, they swam downstream until they hit the White. At that point, they probably thought "what the hell!?" and booked it downstream until it warmed up.

[Wayne SW/MO]

That makes sense hogjaw, probably moving into the warmer White during the winter, and moving downstream for warmer water. I wouldn't think it is overharvest, and they should spawn. Apparently the flats do.