7775

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7775
• Author: Carlson, C. A. and R. T. Muth.
• Title: Inland Fisheries Management in North America, Chapter 15
• USFW Year: 1993.
• USFW - Doc Type: Endangered Species Management.
• Copyright Material: YES

ENDANGERED SPECIES

363

15.3 ENDANGERED FISHES OF THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA

Serious threats to many unique, native fishes in North America have been
recognized since the early 1960s. Miller (1972) made the first attempt to list native
threatened fishes of the United States. Over 300 kinds of fishes were listed to
enhance chances for their survival through protective legislation and stronger
concern for natural resources.
The American Fisheries Society Endangered Species Committee (Deacon et al.
1979) prepared a list of endangered, threatened, and special-concern fishes of
North America from available literature in 1976 and had it reviewed by many
biologists. Endangered and threatened were defined as in the ESA, and the
special-concern category was developed for species that could become threatened
or endangered by relatively minor disturbances to their habitat or for which
additional information was required to determine their status. Deacon et al. (1979)
based their list on biological considerations throughout the range of each taxon
without regard for jurisdiction or politics; it contained 251 taxa appropriate to one
of their three categories, regardless of whether they appeared on any official list.
Threats and percentages of the listed taxa affected by them were habitat
modification (98%), other natural or human-induced factors (37%), restricted
range (16%), overexploitation (3%), and disease (2%). The authors considered this
to be evidence that well over 90% of the endangered and threatened fishes of
North America could be restored by nationwide programs of habitat restoration
and protection.
Compilers of data on endangered and threatened species generally do not
attempt to chronicle fish extinctions, probably because it is difficult to demon-
strate that a fish species is extinct. Miller et al. (1989) reported documented
extinction of3 genera, 27 species, and 13 subspecies of fishes from North America
during the past 100 years. Physical habitat alteration and detrimental effects of
introduced species were the most commonly cited factors contributing to these
extinctions. Ono et al. (1983) presented a list of North American fishes that in their
view were endangered, threatened, or extinct. Seventy-eight percent of the
endangered and threatened fishes on their list inhabited only the United States,
10% were from Mexico, and 1% were from Canada. Almost 80% of the extant
U.S. fishes on their list were confined to the Southwest and Southeast. Over 60%
of the species they listed inhabit streams, and 90% of those live in warmwater
streams. North American fishes then made up about 70% of the known endan-
gered and threatened fishes of the world. The work ofOno et at. (1983) was unique
in presenting accounts of the circumstances attending the plight of listed species
grouped by geographic regions in North America.
McAllister et al. (1985) discussed 37 Canadian fishes classed provisionally or by
COSEWIC as rare, endangered, extirpated in Canada, or extinct. Campbell (1988)
discussed status reports in preparation and approved by the COSEWIC Fish and
Marine Mammals Subcommittee; by 1987,38 fish species had been classified, and
many more status reports were under review.
Johnson (1987), on behalf of the American Fisheries Society Endangered
Species Committee, assembled lists of native U.S. and Canadian fishes receiving
legal protection or of special concern due to low numbers, limited distribution, or

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