Page 35 - March/April 2020 - Outdoor Oklahoma

KeLLY AdAMS/odWC

At the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery, the broodstock are collected from holding ponds, and transferred to tanks where they can be closely
monitored. Biologists frequently check the fishes’ readiness to spawn, and when the timing is perfect, eggs and milt (fish sperm) are collected.

focus for the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation and the U.S. Fish SAM STuKeL/uSFWS
and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Jason Schooley, Senior Fisheries
Biologist for the Wildlife Department,
has spent most of his career working to
better understand these shark-like fish.
“The scientific order Acipenseriformes,
which includes the sturgeons and pad-
dlefishes, has the unfortunate distinc-
tion of being one of the most imperiled
groups of fishes on Earth. Oklahoma’s
paddlefish are not immune from
threats of habitat loss and overharvest,
and require careful and thoughtful
management informed by research,”
Schooley said.
Over the evolutionary history of this
unique group of fishes, six different
types of paddlefishes have inhabited
Earth. But only two survived to mod-
ern times. Unfortunately, scientists
recently declared the Chinese paddle- In about two weeks, young paddlefish will begin to externally feed, which poses a unique
fish (Psephurus gladius) extinct, leaving challenge. Paddlefish are planktivores and are filter feeders. While zooplankton is present
in the hatchery’s water system, biologists pellet-feed the paddlefish to ensure they will be
the American paddlefish as the lone hardy and healthy before they are stocked.

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