Past, present, future
Bob Locy of Biological Sciences, fourth from left, moved into the top faculty leadership position on March 11 as chair of the University Senate, and Sue Barry of Curriculum and Teaching became senate secretary. They succeeded David Cicci of Aerospace Engineering and Ann Beth Presley of Consumer Affairs, who served in those posts for the past year. As immediate past chair, Cicci will serve for a year as faculty advisor to the AU Board of Trustees. The faculty, meanwhile, elected Kathryn Flynn of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences as chair-elect and Dennis DeVries of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures as secretary-elect. Pictured, from left to right, are Cicci, Presley, Barry, Locy, Flynn and DeVries.

  Stocking efforts in the past haven’t resulted in bigger bass on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and recent scientific modeling at Auburn University suggests size and slot limits would not work in a way fishermen could accept.
  “Stocking in the past didn’t seem to work at all,” said Dave Armstrong, District V supervising fisheries biologist. “We’ve been surprised at that because it has worked in other reservoirs where we stocked Florida-strain bass.”
  Armstrong said that reservoirs below the fall line tend to experience less restocking success. The fall line is the boundary between the Atlantic Coastal Piedmont and Gulf Coastal Plain regions. It arcs out of the northeast to just below Auburn and encompasses Alabama’s fertile Black Belt region.
  The state fisheries section introduced 233,112 Florida-strain bass into the Delta between 1988 and 2000, according to fisheries section information.
  From 1988-91, 194,279 bass of 1 to 3 inches in length were stocked from just below Claiborne Lock and Dam on the north to Winter’s Marina on Bayou Sara to the south.
  Between 1992 and 2000, another 38,883 Florida bass were stocked into Dead Lake exclusively at a rate of 10 to 16 fingerlings per acre, depending on the year. Armstrong said at an estimated 400 acres, the mid-Delta lake located on its western edge provided an easily accessible location for stocking and sampling to gauge if the Florida-strain and native northern black bass were crossing.
  The state has undertaken two genetic studies one Deltawide in 1986 before stocking began and another in Dead Lake in 1999 that included 130 bass combined. Auburn University’s most recent look for the presence of Florida-strain traits in Delta bass will ultimately involve 297 fish, Armstrong said.
  He said Auburn is looking at Delta bass genetics at the nuclear level, which gives scientists a much deeper look into their makeup than was possible in the earlier studies, which were protein-based.
  So far, no genetic trace of the Florida strain bass has ever been found.
  “That’s not to say that restocking wouldn’t ever work, but it just hasn’t so far,” Armstrong said. “The bass on the Delta apparently are what they are even considering the Delta is at the westernmost reach of the Florida bass’ range and they should naturally reproduce with the northern strain.
  “We should have seen some Florida-strain influence in Dead Lake because it’s similar to all of the other reservoirs where we saw results.”
  Armstrong said despite the failure of Florida bass stocking efforts so far on the Delta, there is still a possibility the state will try again.
  “We still have a long way to go on genetic studies on the Delta and I’m not ever willing to say we would never try something to improve the fishery based on sound biology,” he said.
  Armstrong said it has been suggested that instead of stocking pure Florida-strain bass, the state should begin introducing first-generation Florida/northern hybrids also known as F1 or Tiger bass which have been shown to grow faster and bite more aggressively.
  Armstrong said that effort would likely prove ineffective.
  “I wouldn’t say that we wouldn’t consider that as a possibility, but it would take gearing up a hatchery program to breed those fish and the costs could be prohibitive,” he said. “In reality, the Florida bass we introduced should have naturally crossed with the northern black bass on the Delta and they didn’t.
  “We would much rather allow hybrids to occur naturally through stocking pure-strain fish than by introducing a hybrid that we have no idea about which genes are predominant.”
  Armstrong said genetic testing has shown Delta bass to be northern strain fish, but preliminary results of Auburn research on more than 200 bass has found they also have genetic markers not found in any other northern-strain bass in Alabama. Armstrong said this study is about two-thirds complete.
  “Studying the genetic structure is key in determining what this fish really is, so we need to simply see what we have and where we are before we can determine where to go with this population of bass,” Armstrong said. “Simply dumping Florida bass, or any other fish species, is not good management or conservation.”
  Scientists have described local bass as having a “live fast, die young” life cycle. Their research has found that to age 3, a Delta fish’s growth mirrors that of those swimming upstate. Beyond that age, however, Delta fish lag behind despite the fact they take in a lot more calories every day than other bass.
  Delta bass also die before reaching an age that would allow them to grow to 5 pounds or larger. Of the 8,000-plus fish Auburn has collected since 2003, only seven have weighed more than 5 pounds.
  The lack of bigger fish has prompted some fishermen to suggest the state implement size or slot limits. But Armstrong said the results of scientific models run at Auburn and data from Delta bass have shown conclusively that any kind of size or slot limit would not improve the average size of Delta bass.
  “A minimum length limit makes everybody feel good, but it’s just not biologically sound for us,” he said. “Minimum length limits are for systems with poor reproduction and/or habitat problems and are intended to protect a large segment of the population to allow reproduction and decent growth.
  “The population overall here is very healthy and we usually do have adequate growth levels given their relatively short lifespan.”
  Auburn models determined that up to a 15-inch minimum size limit wouldn’t help grow bigger bass while at the same time protect the population at current mortality rates. State research has determined that natural mortality on the Delta is between 30 and 31 percent annually and fishing mortality is 7 to 14 percent.
  “We do seem to have higher mortality on bigger fish, but we don’t want to do anything to penalize tournament fishermen or recreational bass fishermen who like to keep a few to eat,” he said. “I think anglers already do the right thing for the population.”
  Armstrong also said slot limits are ineffective because they often become minimum size limits since fishermen tend to keep fish above the upper end of the slot and release those fish below the lower end.
  “Slot limits tend to be in meat fisheries where you’re trying to protect the reproducing size of fish,” he said. “The Delta does not have a reproduction problem. Even with the hurricanes and drought over the past few years, the Delta has a recruitment level of age-1 fish that is two to three times higher than that on any other reservoir.
  “That’s also another reason why stocking for numbers is ridiculous,” Armstrong added. “We’re committed to doing whatever we can to make this Delta a better fishery. Maybe we can’t, but I believe we’re in this for the long haul and we all want to do the right thing for anglers and the bass themselves.”

By: Mamiko Hada

  Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program which provides opportunities to
scholars/professionals who are U.S. citizens, to visit various countries
for a range of 3-12 months in the academic year 2009-10 to conduct
research, lecture or engage in a combination of research/lecturing at anoverseas university or research institute.
  As a Fulbright Visiting Specialist, I trust you have come to know
numerous scholars/professionals who would benefit from a Fulbright
grant, especially in the field of religion/Islam or just to share their
expertise. CIES is currently recruiting American academics and
professionals to apply for Fulbright awards, and would love to have your assistance in encouraging your American colleagues to consider applying.
  Your university/department may also wish to serve as a host institution to these American Fulbrighters, in which case you are encouraged to provide an invitation letter to the American applicant. A terminal degree and U.S. citizenship are required for this grant.
  Amongst the countries that I work with, Indonesia and Malaysia have
specific awards pertaining to Islam in the Islamic Studies award
(http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/Isl9137.htm for
Indonesia; http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/Isl9155.htm
for Malaysia) and in Comparative Religion award
(http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/Com9135.htm).
 
The deadline is August 1st, 2008.
  Would you be so kind to forward this message to whom you think would benefit from a Fulbright grant?  I’d also like to add that the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers grants in over 150 countries, so if your American colleague is interested in other countries, pls encourage them to visit our website to review all other possibilities at:
http://www.cies.org/us_scholars/us_awards/

Mamiko Hada
Program Officer
Council for International Exchange of Scholars
3007 Tilden Street, NW, Suite 5L
Washington, DC 20008-3009
tel: 202/686-7873
fax: 202/362-3442

 
Robin Clark (left center) Alabama B.A.S.S. Federation Nation District 9 director presents a 2nd $1000.00 check for largemouth bass habitat & research study to Auburn University fisheries associate professor Dr. Rusty Wright (right center) bringing to date the total contribution from ABFN at $2000.00. Alabama Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources supervising fisheries biologists David Armstrong (far right) & Ben Ricks (far left) also spoke at the Mobile Bass Association meeting in Daphne on April 8th. Armstrong stated the ABFN donation would aid his department in the continuation of the Mobile Delta  bass research being conducted over the last six years with Drs. Dennis DeVries and Rusty Wright from Auburn University, Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures.                                  

    The Fourth Annual State of Our Watershed Conference - The Tallapoosa River Basin, coordinated from the Alabama Water Watch Office in the AU Department of Fisheries, was held on Friday, April 11th at the Central Alabama Community College (CACC) in Alexander City, AL. The conference was a resounding success by several measures.     Attendance, about 120, was nearly double that of previous years. 
Conference planners believe that multiple factors contributed to the marked increase in attendance – the move to a more accessible and higher capacity venue on the CACC campus, more targeted marketing of the conference, and especially the importance of water in the lives of all who live in the Tallapoosa Basin. These factors coupled with an excellent slate of knowledgeable speakers who have years of experience in their respective fields related to water issues made for a relevant and enjoyable conference that folks believed was a worthwhile way to spend their day. 
  Dick Bronson, President of Lake Watch of Lake Martin, said that he was pleased with the program. “It was an opportunity for folks to hear about state water policy,” he said. He said the program illustrated the state’s need for water policy. It also showed the state’s willingness to provide for such things in the future. “The state is crying for a statewide water policy,” he said. “I think help is on the way.”
Topics presented at the conference included Alabama’s historic drought of 2007 and its impacts, community-based watershed initiatives in the Tallapoosa River Basin, status of upgrading Lake Martin to Outstanding Alabama Water (OAW), an update on the relicensing of Martin Dam, and the AU Water Resources Center’s role in managing waters of the Tallapoosa Basin. In the keynote address, State Representative Betty Carol Graham, 81st District, discussed the need for a comprehensive water plan in Alabama.
“Water is not a Democrat or Republican, or a rich man or poor man issue,” Alabama Representative Graham said. “In my opinion, water is a basic American need of every citizen.”
Sponsors of the conference included the Middle Tallapoosa River Basin Clean Water Partnership, the Central Alabama Community College, the AU Water Resources Center and Alabama Water Watch.
During the panel discussion at the culmination of the conference, Bill Deutsch, Director of the Tallapoosa Watershed Project and the Alabama Water Watch Program, received input and guidance from water experts of the panel on research, outreach and policy needs to improve water management in the Tallapoosa Basin.   For information on the conference (agenda, presentations, etc.), visit the Tallapoosa Watershed Project website at www.twp.auburn.edu and click on the Fourth Annual State of Our Watershed Conference link.

Sabrina Beyer, a master’s student in Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, claimed the award for Best Student Paper at the 24th annual Alabama Fisheries Association meeting in late February in Orange Beach. The paper recapped her findings in a study to investigate the validity of current techniques used to determine the age of red snapper and to test a new age-determination method. Steve Szedlmayer, Beyer’s major professor at theMarine Fish Laboratory Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center, says that Beyer took a risk with this project, because she had to recapture marked red snapper that had been at liberty for at least one year. No recaptures would have meant no thesis. The professor praises Beyer’s undaunting spirit and the extremely significant results her study produced.