Spatiotemporal Patterns of Native Fish Species in the Lower Missouri River

Selected native fishes of the Missouri River have recently been assessed from results of sampling efforts carried out by the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment (PSPA) Program during the period of 2003-2014 to show trends of targeted fishes among seven sampling areas of the Missouri River. A closer look over recent years shows a decrease in several small-bodied fishes in the Missouri River that borders Nebraska, meanwhile, in portions of the river downstream in Missouri have seen the opposite with the highest catch rates of the same species in the past three years.  For long-lived and highly migratory species such as sturgeon Scaphirhynchus species, a long-term, system wide monitoring program is necessary to detect temporal and spatial changes in the sturgeon population.  This paper will include the results of sampling efforts that extended over a sample area of 1,300 river kilometers, contributed by multiple state and federal agencies.  Further discussion of distribution, abundance, and status trends of other native fish will also be presented.