Imperiled Species Policy Is a Critical Issue for AFS

Abstract

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) has a long history of scientific, management, and policy interests in the U.S. Endangered Species Act and other federal, tribal, state, provincial, and international laws pertaining to imperiled species. For decades, AFS has hosted technical sessions, developed policy, and participated in critical discussions pertaining to imperiled species conservation. For this reason, the AFS leadership elected to update the Societys three policy statements on imperiled species, which are no longer official under AFS bylaws because they expired as official AFS policy in 1987, 1993, and 1999. As part of the effort to update, here we (1) review the elements of imperilment, (2) present the history of AFS engagement on imperiled species policy issues, and (3) set the goals to update this policy and the AFS policy process moving forward. Our intent is to launch a dialogue that leads to an AFS policy statement on imperiled species, supported by primary literature, that can be updated with minor revisions every five years.

Headwater Streams and Wetlands are Critical for Sustaining Fish, Fisheries, and Ecosystem Services

“…), and emerging threats exacerbate population decline of rare or range‐restricted species (Minckley and Deacon ; Reid and Mandrak ; Shirey et al. ). Many threatened desert fishes, such as pupfishes Cyprinodon spp., have geographic distributions limited entirely to one or more isolated spring‐fed headwaters (Rogowski et al.…”

“…HEADWATERS SUPPORT IMPERILED SPECIES Habitat loss and pollution are the primary causes of extinction of aquatic biota (Miller et al 1989;Dudgeon et al 2006;Arthington et al 2016), and emerging threats exacerbate population decline of rare or range-restricted species (Minckley and Deacon 1991;Reid and Mandrak 2008;Shirey et al 2018). Many threatened desert fishes, such as pupfishes Cyprinodon spp., have geographic distributions limited entirely to one or more isolated spring-fed headwaters (Rogowski et al 2006;Dzul et al 2013; Figure 4) but many such isolated waters would likely not be protected under a narrower rule.…”

“…The importance of headwaters to indigenous cultures extends beyond the well-established examples from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and intermountain western USA. For instance, the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is also culturally important to the Timbisha Shoshone and Southern Paiute peoples because of its life-giving pools fed by headwater springs (Shirey et al 2018). The Rio Grande and Colorado River flow from headwaters in the Rocky Mountains through traditional lands of the largest concentrations of indigenous peoples within the conterminous USA (Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, and others) and intersect the ranges of Apache Trout and Gila Trout.…”

Fisheries Volume 44 Number 2 February 2019

“…HEADWATERS SUPPORT IMPERILED SPECIES Habitat loss and pollution are the primary causes of extinction of aquatic biota (Miller et al 1989 ;Dudgeon et al 2006 ;Arthington et al 2016 ), and emerging threats exacerbate population decline of rare or range-restricted species (Minckley and Deacon 1991 ;Reid and Mandrak 2008 ;Shirey et al 2018 ). Many threatened desert fi shes, such as pupfi shes Cyprinodon spp., have geographic distributions limited entirely to one or more isolated spring-fed headwaters (Rogowski et al 2006 ;Dzul et al 2013 ; Figure 4 ) but many such isolated waters would likely not be protected under a narrower rule.…”

“…The importance of headwaters to indigenous cultures extends beyond the well-established examples from Alaska, the Pacifi c Northwest, and intermountain western USA. For instance, the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is also culturally important to the Timbisha Shoshone and Southern Paiute peoples because of its life-giving pools fed by headwater springs (Shirey et al 2018 ). The Rio Grande and Colorado River fl ow from headwaters in the Rocky Mountains through traditional lands of the largest concentrations of indigenous peoples within the conterminous USA (Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, and others) and intersect the ranges of Apache Trout and Gila Trout.…”