USGS Montana Fishery Research Unit research vessel and white truck

Research of the Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit will continue to focus on applied fisheries-management problems and issues. Our studies are initiated in response to the needs of the Cooperators and other management agencies and are designed to provide information useful in directly improving management of aquatic resources. Technical areas of special emphasis include habitat associations and requirements of fishes, large-river fish assemblages, native aquatic community restoration, effects of exotic fishes on native species, and regulated-river and reservoir fisheries. Other topics are addressed as needed, in keeping with the Cooperative Research Program's mission to best meet the needs of the Cooperators by remaining flexible and open to new areas of inquiry, as exemplified by our current emphasis on prairie streams. When Cooperator's needs occur outside our areas of expertise, we will recruit the assistance of appropriate University faculty.