Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-50). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Guelph, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Oregon’s fish hatchery system developed in the late 1800’s in response to salmon fishery losses. Salmon hatcheries consist of a number of built components. ‘Growing fish’ requires a variety of building types which support the hatchery process as well as constant input of resources. In addition to surveying and inventorying fish hatchery resources, this study will analyze the social, economic, cultural, and environmental conditions under which these fish hatcheries were organized and commissioned. Ultimately, this survey will not only serve as a baseline for future, more intensive-level surveys, but will also provide a foundation for a National Register Multiple Property Submission. The use of hatcheries to sustain native Oregon fish species constitutes a major aspect of Oregon’s fishing and environmental conservation efforts. Oregon’s heritage hatcheries stand as physical reminders of early conservation activity and while their preservation provides a more complete picture of Oregon’s relationship with natural resources

M.Sc. / The Bushveld smallscale yellowfish, Labeobarbus polylepis (Boulenger, 1907), is an ecologically, socially and economically important species. These indigenous freshwater fish are found above an altitude of 600m, and occur in the Inkomati and Phongolo River Systems and the southern tributaries of the Limpopo River System. In the past, it was suspected that morphological differences exist between the different L. polylepis populations, due to the occurrence of the rubberlip formation of individuals from the Elands River. Specimens of five L. polylepis populations were collected from the Phongolo, Assegaai, Elands and Komati rivers and Ngodwana Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa. A L. natalensis population was collected from the Umvoti River and used as an out-group. Nine meristic counts and 46 morphometric measurements were taken. The measurements were changed into percentage ratios based on the fork length of each individual. The data was statically analysed and includes Multidimensional scaling techniques (MSD’s) and Principle Component Analysis (PCA’s). Statistical analysis split the five populations into three groups. The one group consists of fish from the Phongolo and Assegaai rivers, the second group consists of fish from the Elands River and Ngodwana Dam and the third group is mainly Komati River fish. The third group is the only group that does not overlap with any other group. There were morphological differences between the groups, but they were not significant. The L. natalensis population is morphologically similar to L. polylepis populations obtained from the Phongolo and Assegaai rivers. Twenty enzyme coding loci in two L. polylepis populations from the Phongolo and Elands rivers were analysed by horizontal starch gel-electrophoresis. Electrophoretic analysis of heart, muscle and liver tissue samples revealed genetic variation at 15% (Elands River) and 35% (Phongolo River) of the protein coding loci studied. Average heterozygosity values based on Hardy-Weinberg expectation were 0.019 (Elands River) and 0.059 (Phongolo River), with a genetic distance value of 0.004 between these populations.

Modifications to Brandon Road Lock and Dam (BRLD), located on the Des Plaines River in northeastern Illinois, have been proposed to prevent the upstream transfer of aquatic invasive species, particularly Asian carps, into the Great Lakes Basin. These modifications, including the installation of an electric barrier, acoustic fish deterrent, and air bubble curtain, are designed to completely eliminate all upstream fish passage and may negatively impact native fish populations in the Des Plaines River by reducing upstream movement and potentially fragmenting populations. BRLD is situated just 21 km upstream of the Des Plaines River mouth, and fish are only able to pass upstream via the lock chamber. Fish species richness within the Des Plaines River watershed has increased over the last 35 years. It has been suggested that the majority of new species to the upper Des Plaines River have migrated upstream past Brandon Road Lock and Dam (BRLD), from the Illinois, Kankakee, and lower Des Plaines rivers. However, documentation of emigration needed to support that contention is lacking and there is limited knowledge of the current rate of BRLD passage by native species. To assess native fish passage through the lock, a microchemical study was conducted using fin rays from fish collected from the Des Plaines, Illinois, and Kankakee Rivers. The edge of each fin ray, which contained the most recently deposited material, was assumed to contain a microchemical signature reflective of residency in the river where the fish was sampled. Fin ray edge strontium:calcium ratio (Sr:Ca) was used to define taxonomic and river-specific signature ranges for four taxonomic groups: centrarchids, catostomids, ictalurids, and lepisosteids. Fin ray edge Sr:Ca data were input into a random forest classification model, and the classification accuracy of fish to their river of capture based on their fin ray edge Sr:Ca was > 97% in each taxonomic group. The classification model was then applied to the entire fin ray of each fish sampled upstream of Brandon Road to infer retrospective environmental history. Upstream BRLD lock passage was suggested by the presence of Sr:Ca signatures indicative of prior downstream residency in the Illinois or Kankakee rivers in a fish sampled upstream of BRLD. Results indicated some evidence of downstream residency that suggested upstream BRLD lock passage for centrarchids, catostomids, ictalurids, and lepisosteids, ranging from 15 – 37% of individuals sampled depending on taxa. An additional 19 – 80% of individuals within each taxonomic group were classified as fish with uncertain downstream residency, whereby the possibility of BLRD lock passage could not be rejected, but there was higher uncertainty in establishing downstream residency in the Illinois or Kankakee rivers. The impact of BRLD modifications and passage restriction on Des Plaines River fish populations is unknown and merits further investigation.

Reservoirs throughout the country exhibit degraded shorelines and simplified littoral habitats because of aging. This study evaluated the establishment of agricultural plantings on reservoir mudflats and the effectiveness of supplemental brush pile structures in providing recruitment habitat for juvenile fish. The mudflats of Enid Reservoir, Mississippi were seeded during the winter drawdown in October of 2016 and 2017 with agricultural plantings. Monitoring of plantings found grasses performed best in terms of establishment and providing potential fish habitat. During Summer 2017 brush piles and control sites, without brush, were sampled in Enid Reservoir using rotenone to evaluate juvenile fish use. Juvenile fish exhibited greater abundances and larger sizes, on average, in brush pile sites. Larger brush piles placed in shallower water provided the greatest benefit to juvenile fish.

No description available.

<p> This study is one of the first to examine non-targeted effects of radiation in fish cell lines, with the aim of identifying a reliable reporter system for evaluating radiation damage in fish. The ability of the fish cell lines to clone was determined as the clonogenic assay was a major end point used to measure survival. A direct survival curve was completed for all cell lines that were deemed clonogenic using a cobalt-60 γ-radiation source. Non-targeted effects of radiation were evaluated by conducting bystander experiments on all fish cell lines. Delayed Cell Death (DCD) experiments were completed on the fish cell line that showed evidence of a cell death associated bystander effect as these phenomena may be linked. Four of the eight cell lines were found to be clonogenic. The cell line, RTG-2, was found to be the most radiosensitive at lower doses. All of the clonogenic cell lines, with the exception ofRTG-2 cells, generally showed increased Plating Efficiency (P.E.) when Irradiated Cell Conditioned Media (ICCM) was tested on unirradiated autologous cells. ICCM from the clonogenic and non-clonogenic cells was also tested on the mammalian cell line. This resulted in increased cell survival, with the exception of the RTS-pBk+ (p<O.OOl), RTS-34st (p<O.Ol) and ZEB 2J (p<0.05) cell lines. Since RTG-2 showed the most prominent cell killing bystander effect, DCD experiments were performed on this cell line. DCD was found in the progeny of irradiated parental cells at all doses tested. Cell kinetics also showed the generation of possible DCD. The results show that both bystander signal production and cellular responses vary depending on the cell line and that DCD and bystander effects are tentatively linked through genomic instability. The RTG-2 cell line may be a suitable model for a reliable reporter system to aid in determining the nontargeted effects of radiation in fish in the environment. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

No description available.