Carterville FRO technician Adam McDaniel and La Crosse biologist Ann Runstrom hold a large longnose gar from the Mississippi River. - FWS photo

Carterville FRO is in the pre-project monitoring stage of a proposed stone dike alteration project on the Middle Mississippi River.  The study area includes an experimental site south of St. Louis, MO (RM 151-155) and a control site north of Cape Girardeau, MO (RM 64-69). 

The Carterville FRO staff are sampling fish using a variety of standard capture gears including: hoop nets, gill nets, trawling, electrofishing, and mini-fyke nets.  Additionally, the Carterville FRO has recorded water quality parameters and taken water samples for further lab analysis. 

The overall objectives of the study are determining what fish communities use habitat provided by dikes, if these communities change as a result of dike modification, the seasonality of fish use of dikes, and identifying the water's physical and environmental conditions seasonally at the dikes.

The fieldwork was accomplished with help from the Missouri Department of Conservation, volunteer Ray Wild, Columbia FRO biologist Andy Plauck, and La Crosse FRO biologists Ann Runstrom and Louise Mauldin.    

The Middle Mississippi River has been greatly altered in order to maintain the navigation channel and reduce flooding.  These modifications have taken the form of channel dredging, levees, and stone dikes. 

An unfortunate consequence of these actions has been loss of floodplain and side channel habitat, which were historically important to the native flora and fauna.  In recent years, biologists and river engineers have searched for means to restore these vital habitats while still maintaining river commerce. 

One promising compromise is stone dike alterations which can lead to an increase in island, side channel, and backwater habitats.