Zachary W. Fratto1,2, Valerie A. Barko2, and John S. Scheibe1

Fisheries biologists throughout the USA use fyke nets and hoop nets to sample fish. These nets often have a high turtle bycatch rate and high mortality rates, especially when they are set in extreme environmental conditions (i.e., high water temperature and low dissolved oxygen). We designed and tested two turtle exclusion devices for both fyke nets and hoop nets and investigated their ability to reduce turtle bycatch in Mississippi River side channels and floodplain lakes located adjacent to Mississippi and New Madrid counties, Missouri, during the summer 2005 sampling season. Each modified net and its paired control net were set five times in the floodplain and five times in side channels. We used linear regressions with indicator variables to determine if there was a significant difference in total turtle abundance between modified and control nets. Linear regressions revealed that there were no significant differences in turtle abundance between any of the modified nets and their paired controls. However, mean turtle abundance in the second modified fyke net (µ = 28.9) was much lower than its paired control (µ = 73.3). Based on these data, we will evaluate further the effectiveness of the second modified fyke net in floodplain habitats during the summer 2006 sampling season and will report on these results.
Graduate Research Oral, Student

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