6 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2014
By Julie Geiser
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission recently
stocked 990 paddlefish at Gallagher Canyon and Midway
Canyon reservoirs located south of Cozad.
The 12-inch paddlefish have been stocked in efforts to
offer anglers a chance in central Nebraska to be able to snag
or use bow and arrow on mature paddlefish.
"We hope to establish a sufficient population so that a
season can be implemented similar to that on the Missouri
river," said Dave Tunink, assistant administrator of the
Commission's fisheries division. Tunink commented that
"it will take a high density population to establish a season,
which we hope to do in the canal system."
According to Tunink, the canal systems should be a good
place to establish populations of paddlefish as the water
levels are good with deep, open water in the canyon
reservoirs. "The habitat is there for them, reservoir paddlefish
grow well and as the fish get larger people may start to see
them surfacing and rolling to feed," Tunink stated.
It will take several years to establish a paddlefish
population in the canal system, which will hopefully lead
to a season on the fish.
For now the population will grow primarily
from stocked fish, which will be done in coming years with
paddlefish fry from Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery
in Yankton, South Dakota. The fry will then be raised in
Nebraska hatcheries.
Primitive characteristics of the paddlefish include a
skeleton composed of mainly cartilage and a deep forked,
elongated tail fin – the upper lobe being longer than the
lower lobe, similar to sharks. They are also equipped with
an elongated paddle-like snout called a rostrum.
Paddlefish swim through water with their mouths open
to collect tiny crustaceans, insects and have adaptations
specifically for filter feeding on zooplankton. ■
PHOTO
BY
JULIE
GEISER
Paddlefish
Stocking in
Central Nebraska Canal System
