Page 36 - March/April 2020 - Outdoor Oklahoma

KeLLY AdAMS/odWC

Oklahoma Wildlife Department Senior Fisheries Biologist Jason Schooley travels upstream with Sarah Spangler and Brian Filmore of the
USFWS to collect paddlefish broodstock for restoration efforts in John Redmond Reservoir on the Neosho River in Kansas.
survivor. Fortunately, responsible help in future decisions about sites for
management of American paddlefish additional restoration efforts in east-
became a focus long before the spe- ern Oklahoma.
cies reached a critical decline, and it is Oologah in particular has seen high
not currently regarded as threatened catch rates of adult paddlefish since
or endangered. restoration efforts began in the late
Since the early 1990s, the Department 1990s. Various size and age classes of
Oologah in has been collecting paddlefish brood- paddlefish have been observed during

particular has seen stock to produce young fish through paddlefish surveys, indicating natural
artificial spawning, and restoring pad- recruitment is happening in the upper
high catch rates dlefish populations in areas where they Verdigris River. Simply put, biologists are
of adult paddlefish once inhabited. These areas include not just catching fish that were stocked,
Kaw Lake, Lake Texoma, Lake Eufaula they are also catching the progeny of
since restoration and Oologah Lake. But so far, only those stocked fish, which is promising.

efforts began in the two lakes — Kaw and Oologah — have In fact, biologists were pleasantly sur-
shown successful natural recruitment, prised to find the Oologah population
late 1990s. where reproduction is actually adding to be quite abundant, and this stock
to the number of breeding adults. now supports a growing snag fishery.
The specific reasons for the success Much like the migratory journeys
or failure of paddlefish restoration of the paddlefish, efforts to restore
in Oklahoma are not fully under- native paddlefish populations don’t
stood and are currently being inves- stop at the Oklahoma border. Together,
tigated through a research grant with the Wildlife Department and the
Oklahoma State University. The goal USFWS collect, spawn, hatch and raise
of the study is to not only examine the paddlefish to restore native popula-
primary reasons for success or failure tions in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
of restoration in Oklahoma, but also to Paddlefish are truly a resource shared

34 OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA