Distribution of Channel Catfish in Minnesota and an update on

Minnesota River fisheries projects

Tony Sindt; Minnesota River Specialist

Minnesota Fish Distributions

Fishes of MN Mapper

Channel Catfish Distribution

• CCF are currently present in over 330 lakes• 47 lakes with DNR catches of CCF > 30”

• We know Channel Catfish are expanding within Minnesota

• From Fish Mapper:• 104 lakes in 1990 -> 176 in 2000 -> 289 in 2016

• Sources: stocking, illegal stocking, natural migration, barrier removal

• Milder winters and greater connectivity will likely lead to increased expansion

Catfish Distribution

Minnesota River Channel Catfish

6-12"

12-18"

18-24"

24-28"

28-30"

30-32"

>32"

2093 CCF captured in hoop nets downstream of G-Falls

Age and Growth

1

2

3 4 5

6

78 9

Age and Growth

10

Age

Length

(m

m)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Channel Catfish Growth in the Minnesota River

von Bertalanffy growth function: length = 938.59760 * (1-exp(-(0.08724 * (Age - 0.10848))))

Aged 440 Spines

Age

Length

(m

m)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Channel Catfish Growth in the Minnesota River

von Bertalanffy growth function: length = 938.59760 * (1-exp(-(0.08724 * (Age - 0.10848))))

Age 5 = 12.8”

Age 10 = 21.4”

Age 15 = 26.9”

Minnesota River Channel Catfish

6-12"

12-18"

18-24"

24-28"

28-30"

30-32"

>32"

2093 CCF captured in hoop nets downstream of G-Falls

> age 9

> age 12

Acoustic Telemetry

Stationary Receivers6 receivers currently installed in MN River

As of Spring 2017

Pool 21 Paddlefish

1 Common Carp1 White Bass2 S. Buffalo5 B. Buffalo

MNR3 Shovelnose

Sturgeon

Stationary Receivers

Pool 21 Paddlefish

1 Common Carp1 White Bass2 S. Buffalo5 B. Buffalo

MNR3 Shovelnose

Sturgeon

Stationary ReceiversAs of Spring 2017

4-1

4-2

4-8

4-14

4-17

4-24

5-23

7-9

7-10

7-11

7-11

Shovelnose Sturgeon Telemetry

North Redwood 8-29

52326 52325

52324

52327

North Redwood 8-30

53220532215322253223

53225

53226

North Redwood 9-12

53221

53220

53227

53224

5322253225

53226

North Redwood 10-7

53227

Tagging Site

54 river miles downstream in 25 days

North Redwood 10-20

53221

53220

53223

5322453226

53222

North Redwood 10-27

53221

53220 53225

5322453226

53223

North Redwood 11-28

53221

53220

5322653224

53221

53224

North Redwood 3-27-2017

Upcoming Projects

Evaluate Age and Growth of Channel Catfish upstream of Granite Falls Dam

Conduct long-term telemetry study on Flathead Catfish and Paddlefish