Please help support science-based conservation of Alligator Gar populations in Texas by signing our petition! The implications of these proposed regulations are important to conservation of all gar species, as well as other fishes; your signature is valuable even if you’re not from Texas!
PETITION: Stand with Texas to Protect Alligator Gar from Overharvest

Petition Details:
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is concerned about potential overharvest of the Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula). Recent scientific research suggests that the species’ stronghold could be threatened if stronger harvest regulations are not established to protect Alligator Gar populations.

TPWD has proposed new rule changes that affect the size and method of how Alligator Gar can be harvested. These rule changes, if put into law, would include a maximum size limit of four feet in length for Alligator Gar from the Trinity River between the I-30 Bridge in Dallas County to the I-10 Bridge in Chambers County. Additionally, bowfishing would be limited to only daylight hours statewide.

Current Texas law allows the harvest of one Alligator Gar per day per person. Based on scientific data, feedback from a recent survey conducted by TPWD, and the growing popularity of the bowfishing sport,the Texas trophy fishery for Alligator Gar may be at risk.

Please sign the petition and show your support to help protect Texas Alligator Gar for future generations; we also appreciate your sharing this petition to garner additional support!

Here’s the schedule for the Ancient Fishes Symposium at the 2016 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Kansas City! We will provide updates accordingly. For those of you not attending, you can follow the symposium on Twitter with the hashtag #AncientSportFish! We’ll follow up with recap posts in the future; if you have any questions, email solomonrdavid@gmail.com.

Monday, August 22, 2016

• 09:40 AM
  Introductory Remarks 

  Solomon David, Shedd Aquarium/U.S. Geological Survey

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• 10:00 AM

  Morphological Variation Among Bowfin (Amia) Populations from the Carolinas and Laurentian Great Lakes: Taxonomic and Conservation Implications 

  Jay Palumbo¹, Kean Clifford¹ and Donald Stewart², (1)SUNY Coll. Envir. Sci. & For., Syracuse, NY 13210, USA, (2)SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

  –
• 10:20 AM

  Success of Morphometric Gender Identification of Alligator Gar 

  Dusty McDonald¹, Daniel Daugherty² and J. Warren Schlechte², (1)Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station, (2)Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center

  –
• 10:40 AM

  Alligator Gar in the Headlines: Ancient Sport Fish & Asian Carp? 

  Jeffrey Stein¹, Solomon David² and Sarah Huck¹, (1)University of Illinois, (2) Shedd Aquarium/U.S. Geological Survey

  –
• 11:00 AM

  Bowfin Acoustic Telemetry: Insight into the Ecology of a Living Fossil

  Jonathan Midwood, Lee Gutowsky, Bogdan Hlevca, Mathew Wells, Susan Doka and Steven Cooke. affiliations list forthcoming.

  –
• 11:20 AM

  Connecting the Spots: Life History and Ecology of the Spotted Gar Lepisosteus Oculatus from an Oklahoma Reservoir 

  Bryan Frenette, Kansas State University and Richard Snow, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

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• 11:40 AM

  Monday Lunch Break

  –
• 01:00 PM

  Development of a Stage-Specific Floodplain Inundation Model to Predict Suitable Spawning Habitat Availability for Assessing Alligator Gar Recruitment Success 

  Clint Robertson¹, Karim Aziz¹, Nolan Raphelt², Dave Buckmeier¹ and Nate Smith¹, (1)Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (2)Texas Water Development Board

  –
• 01:20 PM

  Alligator Gar in Texas’ Coastal Zone: Long-Term Trends and Environmental Influences 

  Daniel Daugherty, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, J. Warren Schlechte, Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center and Dusty McDonald, Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station

  –
• 01:40 PM

  Movement Patterns and Home Range Fidelity of Bowfin in Oneida Lake, New York 

  James R. Jackson, Cornell Biological Field Station, Cornell University, Alexander W. Latzka, McGill University, Tomomi Landsman, Léman Manhattan Preparatory School and Amy R. McCune, Cornell University

  –
• 02:00 PM

  Growth and Ecology of Bowfin (Amia calva) in Green Bay, Lake Michigan 

  Collin Moratz¹, Patrick Forsythe¹, Christopher Houghton¹, Gary Lamberti², Katherine O’Reilly², Donald Uzarski³, James Student³ and Martin Berg⁴, (1)University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, (2)University of Notre Dame, (3)Central Michigan University, (4)Loyola University Chicago

  –
• 02:20 PM

  Utility and Precision of Four Hard Structures Used to Estimate Age of Spotted, Shortnose, and Longnose Gars 

  Sarah Huck¹, Solomon David² and Jeffrey Stein¹, (1)University of Illinois, (2) Shedd Aquarium/U.S. Geological Survey

  –
• 02:40 PM

  Juvenile Alligator Gar Movement Patterns in a Disconnected Floodplain Habitat in Southeast Missouri 

  Levi Solomon¹, Quinton Phelps², Dave Herzog³, Christopher Kennedy³ and Michael Taylor⁴, (1)University of Illinois, Prairie Research Institute, Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, (2)Missouri Department of Conservation and Southeast Missouri State University, (3)Missouri Department of Conservation, (4)Southeast Missouri State University

  –
• 03:00 PM

  Monday Afternoon Break

  –
• 03:20 PM

  Accuracy and precision of Longnose and Spotted Gar age estimates from otoliths, pectoral fin rays, and branchiostegal rays

  David Buckmeier¹, Richard Snow², Nathan Smith¹, and Clayton Porter² , (1)Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (2) Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

  –
• 03:40 PM
  Modeling the Responses of Alligator Gar Populations to Harvest: Implications for Meeting the Needs of a Diverse Angling Constituency 

  Nathan Smith¹, Daniel Daugherty², J. Warren Schlechte² and David Buckmeier¹, (1)Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (2)Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center

  –
• 04:00 PM

  Research and Revelations in Avant-Gar(de) Eco-Writing 

  Mark Spitzer, University of Central Arkansas

  –
• 04:20 PM

  Discussion 

  Solomon David, Shedd Aquarium/U.S. Geological Survey

  –

Alligator Gars (Atractosteus spatula) have been getting a lot of attention in the media recently, from headlines that they are “a weapon against Asian Carp” to the hunt for a single gator gar in small-town New York to “they’re not weapons against Asian Carp.”

We had the opportunity to provide insight and additional background information on the Illinois Alligator Gar Reintroduction, conservation of ancient fishes, and what current science suggests regarding Asian Carp control. Please read and share, more to come!

  
There’s been a lot of recent discussion regarding bowfin, gars, and other “rough fish” in the context of bowfishing (often wasteful harvest of native species), management (regulated harvest), and conservation. All three of these activities need not exist in conflict with each other (except wasteful harvest). We are raising awareness as to the value of these species in some cases, but there’s still much work to be done!

With conservation and managed harvest (including bowfishing) in mind, we are pleased to bring you the  “Gar Wars” Twitter chat via The Nature Conservancy! We invite ALL interested individuals, groups, etc to join the discussion on July 8, at noon EST.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/areas/greatlakes/explore/talknature-twitter-chat.xml

Please share with others who may be interested, and we hope to further raise awareness as to the conservation value of these oft-maligned ancient native species!