Thirty Years of Conservation Aquaculture in the Southeastern U. S. What Have We Learned?

Seminar Co-hosted by the Applied Biodiversity Science Program and the Dept. of  Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences

Presented by J.R. Shute, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Conservation Fisheries Incorporated

Abstract: J.R. has been studying rare and imperiled fishes in the southeastern U.S. for more than 35 years. J.R. and his wife Peggy moved to Knoxville in 1981 to pursue graduate degrees in Zoology at the University of Tennessee under the direction of the famed Dr. David Etnier. There J.R. and Peggy raised their family while both continued interests in rare fish, and established their own approaches for furthering aquatic conservation. Following graduate school, CFI was formally established in 1986, and later incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1992. Peggy is now Deputy Field Supervisor with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Cookeville, TN office.

CFI, under the direction of J.R. and Pat has partnered with many federal and state agencies, conservation organizations, and private individuals to increase our ecological knowledge for more than 60 species of rare and under-appreciated southeastern freshwater fishes. With their partners, their efforts have contributed to improved status of many, with the eventual goal of removal from Endangered Species Act protection seeming closer to reality. For other species, their pro-active projects, with partner support, likely prevented need for federal endangered species listing. CFI’s primary goal is to restore fish populations that have been eliminated because of pollution or habitat destruction. However, CFI also produces many rare or difficult-to-collect species for other purposes related to aquatic conservation.