To return to the Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference website, go to http://www.midwestfw.org/ The following schedule and room names are subject to change (as of February 1, 2017). Please check back for updates.
Presenters: Presenters for technical presentations are either the primary author (the first name listed in the abstract), or are indicated with an asterisk next to their name. Please note: the conference schedule is hosted by Sched.org which allows you to search within the schedule, and filter the schedule to show sessions only occurring on a certain date or within a track. You can also build your own schedule by creating a free account with Sched.org by selecting "SIGN UP" in the top right corner.
AUTHORS: McKenzie Hauger, University of Nebraska; Derek Kroeker, Manitoba Conservation; Kevin Pope, U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative Research Unit, University of Nebraska; Mark Pegg, University of Nebraska
ABSTRACT: Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) is found throughout a wide range of habitats and is a common sport fish sought out by anglers throughout North America. Crappie age data provides a number of different details about a fish population, including growth, recruitment, and mortality which are necessary for fish management. We assessed the precision of ages among readers estimated using otoliths, fin rays and pectoral spines collected from North Cross Lake in Manitoba, CA. Using otoliths we also provided a population assessment for black crappie found in our study lake. We determined that the population consisted of fish ranging in ages from 2 to 9 years old, with varying total lengths between 194 to 340mm. Ages generated from pectoral spines and fin rays varied from estimates from otoliths despite precision being high among all structures. These results have important implications for managers looking to use non-lethal techniques as continued use may result in inaccurate estimates of population dynamics.
