FISH MOVEMENT IN THE MISSISSIPPI  RIVER

Ron Brooks 1, Jim Garvey 1, Sara Tripp 1, Mike Hill 1, Matt Mangan 1, Tim Spier 
2, Dave Herzog 3, and Bob Hrabik 3
1Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL. 2Western Illinois University, 
Macomb, IL, 3Missouri Long Term Monitoring Station, Jackson, MO.

      Fish biology and life cycles are very difficult to study for species 
inhabiting large river systems because of their propensity for long-range 
movement patterns.  In freshwater, riverine environments, only ancillary 
information has been gathered to support the hypotheses of extreme migrations. 
For most fish species, we know little or nothing of seasonal distributions - 
even for critical periods such as pre-spawning, spawning, and post-spawning 
periods. This type of information has historically been collected using 
telemetry, but only in limited river reaches that were enclosed by dams. 
Invasion of Asian carp species, the population demise of Pallid Sturgeon, 
increased exploitation of Shovelnose Sturgeon, Lake Sturgeon and Paddlefish for 
caviar, and the potential range-limiting effects of dams on all migratory fish 
have induced interest in movement studies for these and other riverine fish. 
	With funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, Southern Illinois 
University (SIUC) and the the Missouri LTRM have conducted several studies to 
examine long and short-range movement of fish in the upper and middle 
Mississippi River and the Illinois River. Principle species studied included the 
Sturgeons, Asian Carp, and Paddlefish. 
	In addition to traditional manual tracking methods using sonic telemetry 
equipment, stationary receivers were deployed in all three studies for the first 
time in large, Midwestern rivers to facilitate the manual tracking effort. The 
combined methods provided insight to likely Pallid Sturgeon spawning areas and 
periods, and direct evidence of long-range movements of Pallid Sturgeon, 
Paddlefish, and Asian Carp. Stationary receivers were also instrumental in 
providing continuous surveillance of local areas of interest and detect Pallid 
Sturgeon movement from below a lowhead dam in the Mississippi River into the 
Missouri River - previously postulated as an unlikely feat for Pallid Sturgeon.  
The receivers documented Paddlefish and Asian Carp movement from the Illinois 
River through or over two dams into the middle Mississippi River and/or the 
Missouri River. 
	The current receiver network is scheduled to be expanded and will be 
useful to all research entities that will use transmitters detectable to the 
receivers. This system will reduce the amount of manual effort required (and 
likely economically impossible to employ) to monitor movement of large river 
fishes that exhibit very long movement patterns. In the future, multi-agency 
cooperation may allow continuous monitoring of transmitters throughout the 
Mississippi River and its tributaries. A network such as this could provide 
unprecedented information about the timing and extent of movement of freshwater 
species.    

Keywords: Mississippi River, telemetry, stationary receivers, network