Tag Archives: Fisheries Science

From time to time I like to blog about some deep, science-stuff.  I do not do it often, because I do not want to be boring.  On the other hand, I know many of you have at least a passing interest in fisheries science and the work done by pointy-headed, fisheries biologists. There is an overwhelming amount of scientific literature documenting everything related to fisheries science and the almost infinite number of fish species.  Unfortunately, there is so much it …

I want to point out some fisheries research work currently being done on the Missouri River in northeast Nebraska.  The easiest way for me to do that is to “copy and paste” a page from our July 2021 Nebraskaland Magazine: As the article says, if you happen to catch one of these tagged fish, we would like to know about it.  If you do not have any other contact information, you can always let me know about it, daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov. The …

Today, I am going to return to a familiar topic–catch and release or more specifically selective harvest.  Some of you will ignore me, I know you will.  That’s fine, just know there is science behind it! Do not take my word for it.  Instead, this time, take the word of retired Canadian fisheries biologist, Gord Pyzer.  He knows his stuff! https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/this-science-proves-that-keeping-small-fish-while-releasing-the-big-ones-improves-the-fishery/?fbclid=IwAR0Hne0rvM-GSCgbvlG9EArU4J0xtgdpAGSW7KZvGzDy0244tNM16KxnRds I hear complaints all the time about certain anglers “keeping fish that are too small”.  You know what?  That …

Research is just one of many jobs done by the Fisheries Division of the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.  Yes, we have a research staff that does some of that work.  But, we cannot get it done all by ourselves.  Over the years we have contracted with several universities to do some of that research.  The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has and continues to be an important partner.  We completed several years of research on our sandhill lakes in conjunction with …

My friend Steve Moseley recently “road along” with one of our field crews doing some of our annual fall, fisheries sampling.  Steve is a writer for the York News-Times and he wrote a great story about his experience.  For those of you interested in Nebraska fish and fishing, interested in the work done by pointy-headed fish biologists, you will enjoy Steve’s article.  Follow the link, take some time, read it!  Oh yeah, there are some pictures too! Game and Parks …

I have not done a blog post on a fisheries science topic in a while.  Time to dust off the theme song, if you want, listen while you read, She Blinded Me with Science, Thomas Dolby. Got another link for you to follow.  This one about some research that has been done on pallid sturgeon in our stretch of the Missouri River.  I found an excellent article in the Nebraska City News Press.  No, I am not going to copy …

Our fisheries field biologists are busy in the fall.  That is the time that we do most of our fish population sampling on waters across the state.  I say all the time that the data we gain from that population sampling is worth its weight in crankbaits.  Simply put, this is how we monitor the health of our fisheries and evaluate our fisheries management strategies.  A really nice secondary benefit is summarizing that data to produce the annual Fishing Forecast. …

There is one thing about the culture of fishing, even the way society thinks about fishing, that I wish I could change. . . . The question about whether a fish is “big enough to keep?” is wrong, completely wrong, 180 degrees wrong. What?  You think my pointy-head has finally gone completely crazy? No, not at all.  Let me explain. . . . Catch and release is a part of modern sportfishing.  It is guaranteed that anglers will be releasing …

I noted a couple of weeks ago that when spring rolls around I actually get outta the office and do a little field work.  Even though the water is cold and the weather can be more wintry than springy, I look forward to it every spring!  One of those activities is the annual collection of walleye eggs that our Nebraska fisheries staff does around the state.  Walleye eggs are collected and fertilized in order to produce the fish needed for …

Last week I had a boring blog post about fisheries science.  It was a fundamental description of what a “fishery” is and how pointy-headed biologists manage fisheries.  Part of the reason I posted that was because I wanted to lay some ground work for additional posts about other fisheries management topics.  So, let me reconvene the Fisheries Science 101 class again today and talk about a subject that I believe is misunderstood by some. . . renovations. Let me start …