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Survival of Angled Saugers in the Lower Tennessee River
Author(s) -
Kitterman Christy L.,
Bettoli Phillip W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1080/02755947.2011.598395
Subject(s) - fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , distension , zoology , biology , medicine , surgery
An intense winter fishery for sauger Sander canadensis exists in the lower Tennessee River, and the objective of this study was to estimate the survival of angled saugers. In February 2008 and January–March 2009, 81 angled saugers (72 live plus 9 euthanized) were affixed with ultrasonic tags. The movements (or lack thereof) by saugers released alive were compared with those of euthanized fish to assess survival. Sixty‐eight percent of the tagged saugers that were released alive exhibited maximum daily movements exceeding the greatest movement of any euthanized fish (0.5 km/d), and those fish were subsequently classified as survivors. The upstream movements of several euthanized fish indicated that their carcasses were ingested by piscivorous scavengers. In logistic models, the probability of mortality was significantly and inversely related to total length but not to capture depth, water temperature, handling time, or ascent rate. In 2 × 2 contingency tables, the fate of released saugers was not found to be associated with either the presence or absence of bleeding from the hooking wound or whether or not the fish displayed gastric distension. Most released fish survived despite the fact that gastric distension was observed in 72% of the angled saugers. Received August 11, 2010; accepted April 21, 2011