Fish Mappers Recognized

A team of state fisheries researchers has received the 2014 Sport Fish Restoration outstanding research project award presented by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) for their work to locate key areas of waterways where habitat restoration effort will be most effective.
Ken Kurzawski, president-elect of the Fisheries Administration Section of the AFS, presented the award at the January Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison.
The team – led by John Lyons, Department of Natural Resources fisheries scientist, and including research scientists Matthew Mitro and Matthew Diebel – developed the project over the past six years using statistical analyses of data relating to waterways. The project, titled “Development and Evaluation of Watershed Models for Predicting Stream Fishery Potential,” produced a framework that can be used by fisheries managers to locate areas in different bodies of water around the state where particular species are most likely to be and where certain types of fisheries and habitat management efforts are potentially most effective.
The framework is built upon a system of predictive models that locate areas that are best suited for particular sport fish species such as trout, bass, walleye, northern pike and yellow perch. Lyons commented on the project as being a good example of where knowledge gained in the field can be applied for more effective management practices.
“The annual Sport Fish Restoration outstanding project award is intended to both highlight the importance and effectiveness of the Sport Fish Restoration program and recognize excellence in fisheries management, research and education,” said Kurzawski. “This annual award program helps identify and showcase outstanding fisheries projects from across the country.”
One spin-off of the six-year project was the creation of a public online tool known as Fish Mapper (https://cida.usgs.gov/wdnr_fishmap/map/), which was developed in partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Geological Survey. The Fish Mapper tool allows anyone to see what kinds of fish species are located on every waterway in the state. The site summarizes the results of fish surveys from around the state dating back more than 100 years.