Effects of sucker gigging on fish populations in Oklahoma scenic rivers

USGS researchers at the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit are sampling suckers using electrofishing, fyke netting, gillnetting, hoop netting, and seining and marking the suckers with passive integrated transponder tags to provide information about population size, demographics, and movement patterns. Suckers (Catostomidae) are ecologically important, and some support popular fisheries, despite not being considered ‘sport fish’ in most states. Gigging suckers is a popular and culturally significant pastime in the Ozark Highlands, but little is known about the effect of gigging harvest on the population dynamics of suckers. Therefore, research is needed to determine safe levels of sucker harvest that ensure the sustainability of sucker gigging and protect overall ecosystem function. Abstract source: USFWS Cooperator Science Series.