The Fisheries Podcast
A weekly podcast sharing stories of the amazing people and projects that make up the fisheries science profession.
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Episodes
Saturday Apr 20, 2019
Saturday Apr 20, 2019
In this episode of The Fisheries Podcast I chat with Jeff Conway, a hatchery manager at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery. We begin talking about his side hobby of restoring Toyota Landcruisers before moving one to his diverse hatchery career where he has raised a variety of fish. Now in Texas he and his crew is attempting to raise freshwater mussels in the hatchery setting. Enjoy!
Main Point: Don't Be Afraid to Take a Risk!
Saturday Apr 13, 2019
Saturday Apr 13, 2019
In this episode we hear from Alec Lackmann who will very soon wrap up his Ph.D. work at North Dakota State University. While there Alec studied tundra pond ecology in the high arctic region of Alaska, specifically a variety of projects studying chironomids. We discuss those topics and his research before moving on to one of his side projects back in the Midwest. Alec, out of curiousity, began aging some more overlooked "rough" fish, one of which being the Bigmouth Buffalo. The first fish he aged was much older than he first thought which led him down a path of collaboration and validation. How old were these fish? You'll have to listen to find out!
Main Point: Bigmouth Buffalo are not carp! They are native to North America and are now the oldest freshwater teleost species!
Saturday Apr 06, 2019
Saturday Apr 06, 2019
In this episode of The Fisheries Podcast I chat with Tim Birdsong of the Texas Wildlife and Parks Department. We begin by talking about Tim's baseball career. We then start talking about Guadalupe Bass, that state fish of Texas, and all the work that Tim and his cooperators have completed in the past two decades. Towards the end we briefly go over some of the leasing programs that Texas has implemented to increase angler access to some of these newly restored bass populations. Enjoy!
Main Point: Think Big Picture about Watershed Connections and Interactions!
Saturday Mar 30, 2019
Saturday Mar 30, 2019
In this episode I chat with Henry Foster about his 15 month long quest to get the Alligator Gar named the state fish of Arkansas. He ultimately succeeded, with the caveat that it be the state primitive fish, a fact that he is not upset about. We discuss his passion for gar and all things fishy. Enjoy!
One Point: Alligator Gar are not trash fish but important pieces of their ecosystem!
Saturday Mar 23, 2019
Saturday Mar 23, 2019
A few weeks ago I received an email from a listener wanting to know more about the issues the Minnesota DNR is seeing on Mille Lacs, so I reached out to Tom Heinrich. Tom and I cover some of the invasive species issues they are facing at one of Minnesota's most popular lakes and how those are affecting Walleye resulting in some closures of the Walleye season a few years ago. Things are looking up for Mille Lacs and Tom explains why and more in this episode. Enjoy!
Main Point: Management decisions not only consider science but also social input!
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
Saturday Mar 16, 2019
In this Selection Sunday episode I chat with Ryan Knotek about his experience playing college basketball at the University of New England while also doing undergraduate research. We then discuss his master's research and the work he is currently doing now at the University of Massachusetts Boston working towards his PhD. We then bring it back to basketball and have Ryan make a pick on who will win the NCAA men's tournament.
I have set up a bracket challenge group for both the men's and women's bracket so podcast listeners can compete against me and others to see who is the luckiest guess. The bracket group can be found on ESPN and is simply named The Fisheries Podcast or by clicking here.
I hope that you enjoy this episode with Ryan Knotek, hearing about all the cool projects he has been a part of and his basketball past.
Main Point: Don't take your time in college for granted and it is important to leave no stone unturned in your research!
Saturday Mar 09, 2019
Saturday Mar 09, 2019
In this episode of The Fisheries Podcast I chat with three different graduate students from Iowa State University. The first you'll hear from is Brett Kelly, a masters student studying Brook Trout in the Driftless area of northeast Iowa. Next is Alex Bybel, who recently defended his thesis focusing on Topeka Shiner and finally Andrea Syliva, a PhD candidate evaluating the effects of catch and release bass tournaments on an Iowa reservoir. Enjoy!
Main Points: Try new things, find something you love and do it sustainably!
Saturday Mar 02, 2019
Saturday Mar 02, 2019
This week I chat with Rene Martin, a PhD candidate at the University of Kansas, studying deep sea Lanternfishes in the Smith Lab. We discuss the work she is doing with these fishes including a trip she got to take out to sea to sample these fishes. We then shift focus to the outreach she does on twitter through the hashtag #SundayFishSketch. Each week she will tweet out a theme and then her and many others will draw a fish based off of that theme. You can find her work by searching the hashtag or checking out her profile, @lampichthys.
Enjoy!
Main Point: Reduce your use of plastics!
Saturday Feb 23, 2019
Saturday Feb 23, 2019
In this episode I reached out to Jason Schooley and Adam Geik of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. They are both very heavily focused on Paddlefish research and management in the state of Oklahoma. We discuss some of the traits that make Paddlefish a great model species for a variety of projects and how the Paddlefish Research Center is helping to better understand and manage these populations. We bring back the quiz to see who the real expert is regarding Paddlefish before both guest answer the final five questions.
Enjoy!
Main Point: Native Fish Communities Have Great Value!
Saturday Feb 16, 2019
Saturday Feb 16, 2019
In this episode of The Fisheries Podcast I chat with a colleague of mine in Kansas, Mr. Ben Neely. We discuss some of the projects he has worked on during his career, starting with Blue Suckers on the Missouri River. We then shift focus to his more current work in Kansas working with Bluegill and Blue Catfish. Starting to see a trend here? We cover a variety of his projects involving all of the species mentioned above. Enjoy!
Main Point: Support Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation!
Saturday Feb 09, 2019
Saturday Feb 09, 2019
This week I speak with Dr. Megan Osborne, a native Austrailian and current researcher at the University of New Mexico. We discuss some of the work she is doing monitoring a bunch of desert fishes using genetic data and her previous work with some more well known charismatic species. Enjoy!
Main Point: Fish Matter and So Do Rivers!
Saturday Feb 02, 2019
Saturday Feb 02, 2019
In this episode I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Mamie Parker while she was in Kansas speaking at our annual Kansas Natural Resource Conference. We talk briefly about her background and upbringing that made her the Mamie that people know today, some of her work with the USFWS and what she is doing now to keep herself busy since retiring.
This is a live interview that, when we started, took place in a quiet hotel lobby, but the hustle and bustle did inevitably creep in and a loud bell hop cart even makes an appearance. Regardless, I hope that you are able to enjoy this episode with of the the great people that make up this profession. While this conversation is brief, I would highly recommend that you all make sure to attend a Mamie Parker plenary session at some point to hear her full story and message.
Main Point: Keep going and growing and make your best better!