| With the third highest species
diversity of fish in the country, Georgia has a lot of fish—and
a lot of fishermen.
“People appreciate being able to go 10 or 15 miles down the
road and fish for native large-mouth bass or flathead catfish with
their children,” says fisheries professor Doug Peterson. “In
Georgia, we’re really quite fortunate to have such a rich
resource so close to our homes.”
The fisheries program at the Warnell School of Forest Resources
at UGA is the only program of its kind in the state. Campus facilities
include experimental ponds, a fish-holding facility and a biometrics
laboratory. Graduates are fisheries ecologists “with an appreciation
for the social and economic importance particular to our science,”
says Peterson.
 |
| Assistant professor Doug Peterson—here
with a Georgia catfish—says graduates of the fisheries
program are in high demand. |
The work of fisheries scientists ranges widely, from studies on
the long-term dynamics of fish populations, to threatened and endangered
species recovery and commercial and recreational fish management,
to the transfer of contaminants through aquatic food webs. In fact,
every 2003 fisheries graduate either went on to graduate school
or found a job in the field.
“Most of our students graduate and get a job working for the
Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
or the National Park Service. Some do environmental consulting.
Qualified graduates in this field are in very high demand,”
says Peterson. “In this economy, not too many programs can
say they place every single one of their graduates.”
High placement rates are not the only attractive feature of UGA’s
fisheries program. Peterson points to a poster on the wall. It has
a picture of a river flowing through a forest. The text at the bottom
reads, “This could be your office.”
In fact, fisheries ecologists do not spend leisurely days cruising
along on fishing boats. Per capita consumption of fish and fish
products in the United States has increased more than 50 percent
since 1970, and abundant, healthy fish populations do not just happen.
Fisheries ecologists spend a good part of their time managing competing
needs. They have to integrate land and water resource management,
develop techniques for estimating the size and distribution of animal
populations, determine the effects of invasive species on resources
use, develop environmentally friendly aquaculture systems of commercial
production of high-value fishes, and more.
“Recreational fishing is an important industry in Georgia,
and commercial aquaculture is growing in importance,” Peterson
says. “One of our primary aims in this program is working
to develop cost-effective, environmentally responsible ways to manage
fish populations in Georgia and across the Southeast.”
Fisheries scientists at UGA are involved in numerous research programs,
including the reintroduction of lake sturgeon in the Etowah, Oostanaula
and Coosa rivers. UGA scientists rear lake sturgeon fingerlings,
study critical habitats and seasonal movements of the fish, and
do periodic assessments to determine how the fish thrive.
Jim Peterson, a fisheries faculty member who also works with the
U.S.G.S. Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, has
partnered with UGA hydrologist Rhett Jackson to study how the impact
of water use, including irrigation and hydroelectric power generation,
affects critical habitats along the Flint River in southwest Georgia.
Another research project involves the robust redhorse. Reaching
more than 26 inches in length and weighing in excess of 17 pounds,
it is the largest species of redhorse sucker, a North American freshwater
fish. Historically, the fish’s range has included rivers throughout
Georgia and South Carolina. In 1991, however, the only known population
lived in a 50-mile section of the Oconee River between Milledgeville
and Dublin. Fisheries scientists Cecil Jennings and Jay Shelton
are working to make sure the species will not face extinction in
the next decade.
Shelton is also working with Doug Peterson and scientists at UGA’s
College of Veterinary Medicine to help curb the spread of a highly
contagious, deadly virus in fish called spring viremia of carp.
To study the virus, UGA imported a high-quality brood of koi from
Japan in 2002. The fish spawned at the Cohutta Fisheries Center
in 2003, producing approximately 12,000 fish for continuing research
into vaccines and disease-resistant strains. The scientists are
hoping to find a way to keep the disease from spreading in the United
States.
The UGA fisheries program is unique in providing a balance between
field-oriented and laboratory research, with a range of facilities
available for teaching and research throughout Georgia, the Southeast
and globally.
|
