January 2023 - 31

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will sample for small-bodied fish on the Bighorn River starting in March. The project will be completed in February 2025. (Photo by Joe Skorupski/WGFD)
to sample some of these small-bodied fish
in large rivers.
" That keyed us into the fact that perhaps
because of water flows and sampling gear
in the past we just hadn't been sampling
species that were there, " Bear said. " This
work on the Bighorn River will use similar
methodology and some things we learned
from the North Platte River project and apply
it to the Bighorn River. "
Sturgeon chub is not the only species of
importance with this project. Bear said plains
minnow and western silvery minnow are
two others involved in the surveys, which
are native to Wyoming. Game and Fish data
on these two species are outdated, and it is
unknown if one or both still exist in the river.
" We don't really have a complete picture
of where those species are, especially in the
Bighorn River system, " Bear said.
GOOD THINGS IN SMALL PACKAGES
Why such an effort for small fish? Many
people are more concerned about fish they
can catch and eat such as trout, walleye,
sauger and catfish.
" These small-bodied fish are part of the
ecosystem, " Bear said. " We tend to find when
we lose a species it can have impacts on the
entire ecosystem. These species are native
to Wyoming. They've been in Wyoming for
a long time and they're important to the
balance and the ecosystem to places like the
Bighorn River.
" They have intrinsic value as well. They're
really fascinating. They're very persistent
in a lot of areas. They survive in places we
wouldn't expect them. It also is to get a
baseline so we can look at changes that might
be happening - environmental changes,
wildfire, increased water temperatures.
Without a good baseline on some of these
native, small-bodied fish it's really hard to
detect change over time and it will be hard
to detect change from other invasive species
as well. "
Bear also said the work could provide
insights into the impact the invasive brook
stickleback has on other small-bodied fish
in the Bighorn River.
" It's about knowing what we have, how
the species are distributed and when that
occurs, " Skorupski said. " From there we
can identify other projects specific to that
species once we know where and when they
are there. "
- Robert Gagliardi is the associate editor of Wyoming
Wildlife.
" If we can get more and
better information for our
sensitive species we have in
the state it could preclude
listing. That's a really good
thing for resources for the
species, and state and federal
resources. " - Joe Skorupski
Wyoming Wildlife | 31

January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2023

January 2023 - 1
January 2023 - 2
January 2023 - 3
January 2023 - 4
January 2023 - 5
January 2023 - 6
January 2023 - 7
January 2023 - 8
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January 2023 - 11
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January 2023 - 31
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January 2023 - 44
January 2023 - 45
January 2023 - 46
January 2023 - 47
January 2023 - 48
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