150 Fish Nominations

150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years

This list is still in progress and being added to weekly. Check back again soon!

150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years

In 2020, the American Fisheries Society will celebrate its 150th Anniversary. As part of the celebration, the Society will be calling attention to 150 fishes. We solicited nominations of fishes for the list by the Society’s membership.

The 150 Fishes list is a celebration of the biodiversity of freshwater and marine fishes of North America. These fishes will help tell the story of fish and fisheries of the continent. They may illustrate unique life histories, beauty, conservation issues, and challenges of managing and conserving these animals and their habitats.  These fishes represent our native biodiversity, but also illustrates how invasives and our own human nature have had impacts on our aquatic resources. Hence, this list will primarily focus on native species but may include non-natives when they tell a compelling fisheries story. From the stories of these fishes, the Society and the public can learn to better appreciate these amazing natural resources and be challenged to ensure that future generations will be able to experience these fishes in their native settings.

Nomination Process

Fish nominations are now closed.

Circulation Process

The 150 Fishes list will reside at the 150^th Anniversary Website, information about individual fish from the list will be circulated through various social media platforms throughout the year.

This list is meant to be a fun for members and informative for the public. It is unlikely we will be able to include all nominations. We acknowledge that every fish has a story. There may be opportunities to discuss all the nominated fishes in the future.

FULL LIST OF NOMINATED FISH

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Catchy Title	The elusive bull trout, a cold water char
Common Name of Fish	bull trout
Scientific Name of Fish	Salvelinus confluentus
Image of Fish
Image Caption and Credit	Kevin Kelly and son in photo caught a large migratory bull trout at Wallowa Lake, OR
Description of Why This Fish Is Important/Interesting	Bull trout often hide in the shadow of a fallen log or a boulder. A sudden movement in the water may be all you see of this elusive fish. Bull trout are members of the char subgroup of the salmon family. Bull trout and Dolly Varden were once considered the same species. Char are well adapted to life in very cold water, with a range extending farther north than almost any other freshwater fish. Like salmon and steelhead, bull trout evolved in northwestern waters as the glaciers of the last ice age receded. For 10,000 years, native bull trout and salmon have coexisted in the same streams. Bull trout habitat requirements are known as the 4 C's: Cold, Clean, Connected, and Complex. Adult bull trout spawn in the fall in head water streams. Females lay their fertilized eggs beneath the gravel in nests known as redds. Some bull trout remain in these headwaters their entire lives. Others migrate to larger streams and rivers, or lakes and reservoirs, before returning to spawn.
Website or Journal Article for More Information	www.fws.gov/pacific/bull trout
Your Name	Gretchen Sausen