For Species that Carry Dual Designations as Imperiled and Invasive, Can we Forge a Common Science Agenda Across Regions, Authorities, and Agencies?

Many fish species in North America (and beyond) are designated as imperiled in their native range, while the same species are designated as invasive where they exist outside their original distribution.  Most science and management objectives are conceived locally or regionally, and prioritized by societal concern over rarity of the imperiled species or severity of the invasive species' impact.  Rarely is the fundamental science or management objective developed for dual application to advance both recovery of imperiled species and control of invasive species.  Examples of dual status species include Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush).  Each of these have experienced extirpation or severely reduced populations within their native range and are the subject of control and eradication programs where they are considered invasive.  For these three species alone, tens of millions of dollars have been invested in local and regional tools, technologies, science, and management actions without a strategy or overarching common agenda to bridge geographies, administrative jurisdictions, or leverage what we know about individual restoration and control efforts into a comprehensive science program supporting both. The goal of this symposium is to bring1) scientists and managers working on dual status species together to advance communication about tools, technologies, and scientific understanding of fish with dual status towards improving both control and restoration efforts,  and 2) regional fishery science and resource administrators together to identify impediments to forging common agendas towards transforming impact on control and restoration efforts from isolated to collective. There has been limited success in controlling invaders or restoring native fishes through isolated or regionally focused efforts and we hope that the presentations will enhance our understanding of how to leverage scientific progress in control or restoration efforts of dual status species into more efficient and comprehensive approaches supporting both.