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American Fisheries Society Guidelines for Introductions of Threatened and Endangered Fishes
Author(s) -
Williams Jack E.,
Sada Donald W.,
Williams Cynthia Deacon
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(1988)013<0005:afsgfi>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - threatened species , endangered species , hatchery , fishery , population , ecology , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , habitat , demography , sociology
s of threatened and endangered fishes are often an integral feature in their recovery programs. More than 80% of threatened and endangered fishes have recovery plans that call for introductions to establish a new population or an educational exhibit, supplement an existing population, or begin artificial propagation. Despite a large number of recent and proposed introductions, no systematic procedural policies have been developed to conduct these recovery efforts. Some introductions have been inadequately planned or poorly implemented. As a result, introductions of some rare fishes have been successful, whereas recovery for others has progressed slowly. In at least one instance, the introduced fish eliminated a population of another rare native organism. We present guidelines for introductions of endangered and threatened fishes that are intended to apply when an introduction is proposed to supplement an existing population or establish a new population. However, portions of the guidelines may be helpful in other situations, such as establishing a hatchery stock. The guidelines are divided into three components: (1) selecting the introduction site, (2) conducting the introduction, and (3) post‐introduction monitoring, reporting, and analysis. Implementation should increase success of efforts to recover rare fishes.