Pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon in the Missouri River from Fort Peck Dam to Lake Sakakawea and in the Yellowstone from Intake to its mouth : Fort Peck pallid sturgeon study PDF
Preview Pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon in the Missouri River from Fort Peck Dam to Lake Sakakawea and in the Yellowstone from Intake to its mouth : Fort Peck pallid sturgeon study
TCWSr ATP€ ?.t.3tO E: tt ii- .tzta b et tr ia StttlEtolr F2pqss L?T .Et .li-s.h"oEvegl-gno'is,?e' *::" '. Ftis6oura - Peclc Dam ?;;;-Fort q1l+ jq, *.i .i* i l1q..:!l':...iJj1t..,qr ..l;,j.ti :i rt) u+ ri{l-.*i !-* ;! *\+q ri *,4 ,r', , Ft*fr,t,$ r$l Palll.d Sturgeon and Sbovelnose Eturgeon tbs l,tissouri nivei fron Fort Peck Dan to Lalre Satalrawea and in tbe Yellougtone Fron Intate to its Dtouth Fort Peck Pallid Sturgeon StudY Anne Tews Fisheries Biologist Montana Department of Fish' Wildlife, and Parks FINAL REPORT submitted to IJ. S . ArmY CorPs of Engineers Planning Branch omaha, Nebraska FebruarY L994 report period January L, L989 November L | 1993 Mark Harberg (t. S . ArmY CorPs of Engineers Project Coordinator 'I ,r;.i;C; ;'t$i tt ABETRACT pallid and shovelnose sturgeon were obsenred throughout the study area by netting, radio telemetry, SCUBA and angler contacts. From L9B9 L993 r 55 different pallid sturgeon and over LO00 shovelnose sturgeon were captured by the Montana Department of Fish Witdlife ana Parks during netting and SCttBA diving. A character index, based on morphological measurements, differentiated pallid from shovelnose sturgeon. Based on this index and field observation, Do suspected pallid/shovelnose hybrids were' captured during the study. Pallids ranged in fork lbngth from L090 l-556 nm, while shovelnose ranged from l-90 943 nm. Drift netting effort was concentrated in known paflid habitat and resulted in average catch rates during L23 hours of netting ( LOL2 drifts) of 0.4 pallids/hour and 8. O shovelnoser/hour. All pallids caught with drift netting were captured on the Yellowstone near its mouth or below the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. Seven pallids and three shovelnose were recaptured during drift netting. Radio and/or sonic transmitters $rere placed on 29 pallid and 30 shovelnose sturgeon. pallids in the confluence/Yellowstone _AlI areagenera1Iyiesidedbe16wtheconf1uencefromAugust and moved up into the Yellowstone in April and May. Most shovelnose in this area remained in the Yellowstone year long, but some were found downstream of the confluence from August October. Sturgeon telemetered in the Fort Peck tailrace exhibited different behavior patterns. Pallids tended to move downstream in April and returi to the tailrace by the winter months, while shovelnose stayed in the tailrace area year longr. Pallid sturgeon movement from the tailrace to below the confluence (eOO kn) was documented. Standardized sampling done in Lgg3, constituted 22.8 hours and 249 drifting efforts of 90 total km and resulted in capture of L84 shovelnose and O pallid sturgeon. During standardized sampling shovelnose were captured most-frequently in upstream stations in both the YeLlowstone and Missouri over gravelly substrate. GilI nets (2.5 and 5 cm nesh) $rere found to be better than trammel nets (25 .4 cm outer, 5 cm inner mesh) at capturing sturgeon less than 65L IIllIl. Four candidate endangered species were captured during the study' including sicklefin chub, sturgeon chub, blue sucker and paddlefish. 11 ACXNO.II.EDGEITBITTS Research from l-989 July L992 was done by Pat C1ancey. He initiated the study and hras instrumental in catching pallids with SCUBA diving and for developing telemetry techniques. Volunteer, GIen Meier, deserves special thanks for the extensive SCUBA diving he did in the Fort Peck tailrace from 1-989 l-993. I would also like to thank Phil Stewart, K.M. Backes and crew for netting below Intake in L993. Fiel.d help lras provided by Jeff Remus, Bob Bramblett, Bob Brandle, Mark Fliger, Chuck Howe, Doug Megargle, and Region 6 personnel. The study was funded by the U. S . Army Corps of Engineers, tt. S . Fish and Wildlif e Service (Section 6 funding) and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. DISCLEIUER Mention of conmercial products in this report does not inply endorsement by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, lll TABI,E OF COITtsENlrS Abstract. . o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o . . . . . . . . . I ' ' ' ' ' t ' ' t . ++ ACknOW1edgementS.. . . . r . . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . r . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .'' "' 1]'I Disclairnei. . . . o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r . . . . . . o . o''''''''' t' iii LiSt Of FigUfeS.. ... . . o. . r... . . ... .. .. . . | . . . . o.. ... . " ' ' ' o .. V List of Tables... |................................ ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '\/ii iist of Appendicgs.................. o..... o...... o...... ' o' viii Introduction. . . .... StUdy Afga....'.............. r o........ e .. o o. " " ' o t " " " t .. 2 ItgthOdS.......... o.......... |............ '.. ' t ' ' ' t o ' t " ' t t t ' I Rgsults and Discussion. . . .. . . . . .. . ... . .... . . .. . . .. o . . . . . . ' t ' 15 Rgcommendations.................. !................. ' ' ' ' ' ' t ' ' 5]- LitgfatUfg Citgd. . . . . I r . o . . . . . . . . . . r ... r . . . u. r . . . . . | . . . . ' ' ' ' o 52 Appendicgs. . . . . . ... . . . . . . .. . . . . .. o.... .... . ... o . . . . ' ' ' t ' ' ' " 57 tv I,I8T OF FIGURE8 Figure l-. Map of Fort Peck pallid sturgeon study area with river miles (kiloneters) . . . . . o . Figure 2. Hydrographs for 1-993 of the Missouri niver-be1ow Fort Peck Dam, the Missouri at Culbertson and the Yellowstone River at Sidney from preliminary USGS data . . . ' . ' Figure 3. Daily hydrograph of the Missouri at three SiteS belOW FOft PeCk Dam . . . . . . . . . . . . Figure 4. Morphological measurements taken from pallidandshovelnosesturgeon' -.... " ' L0 Figure 5. Fork length distribution of palfid sturgeon . . L6 Figure 6. Weight distribution of pallid sturgeon. . . . . l6 Figure 7. Forlc length distribution of shovelnose sturgeon. t8 Figure 8. Mean shovelnose fork length by section, compared with shovelnose captured in L981 by Gardner and Stewart (L987) and those captured above Intake bY Backes et al. (L992) and Watson and Stewart (L99L) . . o ' L9 Figure 9. Character index value freguency for pallid and shovglnosesturgeon. . . . . - ... . . . . ' ' 22 Figure 10. Shovelnose and pallid catch rate from L990 1993 by section and month.. . . . . . o . 25 Figure Ll-. Movement of a pallid sturgeon tagged in April L992. . . o . . . . . . ' ' t ' ' ' ' ' ' 32 Figure L2. Movement of a wide-ranging shovelnose sturgeon implanted with transmitters near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivgrs in L992. . . . o . - r . . . . 34 Figure L3. Drift netting catch of common non- Scaphirhynchus species from 1990 L993. ..o.39 Figure L4. Length distribution of L993 blue sucker catch. . 40 Figure 15. Catch of common species during 1993 seining effort. . 41 Figure l-6. Rainbow trout redd counts from l-983 1993 in a side channel immediately below Fort Pgck Dam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Figure L7. Shovelnose catch per effort by month and station during 1993 standardized sampling. . . . 45 Figure 18. Shovelnose' fork length distribution at standardized sanpling stations during L993. . . 46 Figure l-9. Pie chart comparing catch and species diversity of giIl and trammel nets during L993 standardized sampling . . . o . . . . . . . 48 Figure 20. Shovelnose length distribution with gill and trammel nets from 1993 standardized sampling. . . . . . . . . o . . . . . . . . . . 48 vl- LIST OF TABITBB Table f- . Average daily mean, maximum and minimurn flow at three sites in the study area for 1"988 l-993 calendar Years. TabIe 2. Study area sections with location and river miles (kn) Table 3. Transmitter types used on sturgeon relocated from L989 L993. . . - . - - - . . . L2 Table 4. Description of standardized sites sampled in L993. . o . . . . . . o . . ' ' t ' ' L4 Table 5. Regression equations for palfid and shovelnose sturgeon length (rnm)/w eight (kg) and shovelnose FL to TL in the study afea. . . . | . . . . . . . ' t t ' ' ' ' ' ' ' L7 Table 6. Range and mean of percent standard length of ielected morphological characteristics of pallid and shovelnose sturgeon captured from 1-989 1993 . o - -, - - . . . . 20 TabIe Comparison of morphometric ratios of pallid and shovelnose sturgeon found by Bailey and Cross (L954) and those captured in this study. . . o . . . - - . . . . 2L TabIe 8. Annua1 (January March) pallid sturgeon counts in the Fort Peck tailrace from L988 L993 (from Pat Clanceyts dive 24 IOg) . . . . . . . . . . . . o . ' t ' ' ' ' ' ' Table 9. Incidental catch during 3L drifts in which 55 pallid sturgeon were caught from L992 ]-993. . . . . . . . . ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 27 Table 1,0. Summary of pallid and shovelnose sturgeon habitat measurements taken from 1989 36 t-99 3 MDFWP. Table l- l- . Fish species caught during the Fort Peck pallid sturgeon study from L989 l-993 . 37 v].1 TJIST OF APPENDTCES Appendix L. Calculations used to determine character index values found in FigUre 9 o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Appendix 2. Statistics of patlid sturgeon captured from L989 L993. . . . . . . e . 58 Appendix 3. Length and weight of shovelnose sturgeon captured by drift netting and stationary sets from 1988 L993 by section . . . . . . . . . . . r . . . . . . 60 Appendix 4. Morphometrie ratios described by Bailey'and Cross (L954) for pallid sturgeon caught in L993. . . . , , . . . . . 6L Appendix 5. Percent of standard length of morphometric measurements of pallid sturgeon captured in L993 . . . o . . . . . . .6L Appendix 6. Drift netting effort by year, month and section irom L990 Appendix 7. Catch rates by month and section for conmon species caught during drift netting effort L990 L993 . . . . . . . . . . 63 Appendix 8. Catch rates and number of conmon species caught during drift netting effort from L990 Appendix 9. Annual shovelnose catch rates (CPUE : caEch/hour) with absolute numbers of shovelnose caught by month and sgction from L99O L993. . . . . . . . . o . 67 Appendix L0. Statistics of shovelnose sturgeon transmittered from 1989 1,993 and inplanted with radio and/or sonic (s) transmittgrs . o . . . . . . . . . . . . . o . 68 Appendix 11. Movement of radioed palfid sturgeon intheYellowstone/confluencearea......69 Appendix L2. Movement of radioed pallid sturgeon in the Fort Peck tailrace and i; the Missouri above the confluence. . . . . . . . . 72 Appendix l-3. Movement of shovelnose sturgeon in theYellowstone/confluencearea.... ....73 viii Appendix L4. Habitat measurements of pallid sturgeon taken during radio telemetry relocations in l-993 . 77 Appendix L5. Average catch per seine haul (nunber) in L993 by sgction. . . . . - - . - . . . 78 Appendix 16. Fish species and number caught during drift netting at each standardized sampling station in 1993. . . . . . o - . . o 79 Appendix L7. Shovelnose catch in the Missouri River above the confluence during L993 standardized sampling. . . ' - - - . . . 80 Appendix l-8. Shovelnose catch on the Yellowstone River during 1-993 standardized sampling- . . . 81- Appendix l-9. Shovelnose catch on the Missouri River below the confluence and the average for all stations during 1993 standardized sampling. 82 Appendix 20. Mean surface and bottom velocitY (mrlsec) at deep sites of standardized samplingstationsbymonth.... -... 83 Appendix 2L. Mean surface and bottom velocitY (mrlsec) at shallow sites of standardized sampling stations, by month. 84 Appendix 22. Mean nonthly secchi disk depth (cn) ofstandardizedsamplingsites.... - -.. 85 Appendix 23. Mean nonthly temperature ('c) of standardizedsamplingsites..... - -... 85 Appendix 24. Mean monthly conductivity (prnhos/ cm) of standardized garnpling sites (correctgd to 25" C)' . . . . . . o . - . o . 86 Appendix 25. Mean depth (n) at deeP and shal]ow sites of standardized samPling stations by month. . . . . . . o . . . . . . . 87 ].X
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