Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Utah
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Problem statement: Competition and predation from nonnative fishes have substantially impacted native fish populations across the United States. Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus are among the most invasive species due to their negative impacts on native fish communities.

So What? Why this research matters: Traditional removal efforts to extirpate invasive Channel Catfish populations are ineffective. Developing alternative population mitigation strategies, such as the Trojan Sex Chromosome strategy, need to be investigated for the potential control of invasive Channel Catfish populations.

Partners: The project is a collaboration of researchers with New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Research that informs decisions: Critical data will be collected on the development of optimal feminization strategies for Channel Catfish. This information is critical in the implementation of a Trojan Sex Chromosome eradication strategy that may be able to extirpate invasive Channel Catfish populations.