150 Fish Nominations

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 are 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	Westslope Cutthroat Trout: a tribute to Lewis and Clark
Common Name of Fish	Westslope Cutthroat Trout
Scientific Name of Fish	Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi
Image of Fish
Image Caption and Credit	Westslope Cutthroat Trout (image courtesy of Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Description of Why This Fish Is Important/Interesting	The Westslope Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi is one of the many subspecies of Cutthroat Trout that has suffered from habitat loss and introduction of nonnative species. The Westslope Cutthroat Trout is found primarily in the upper Columbia River drainage, but despite its name, its historic range included headwater streams of the Missouri River drainage. Its scientific moniker bears names of William Clark and Meriwether Lewis because Clark first described the species from specimens captured below the Great Falls of the Missouri River, Montana. The name that is conspicuously missing is that of Silas Goodrich, a member of the Lewis and Clark expeditionary force who also happened to be the best angler of the group. Goodrich frequently supplemented the otherwise all red meat diet of the group with fish he caught at their campsites. The expedition spent a few weeks at the Great Falls of the Missouri, portaging their boats and equipment around the multiple falls of the Missouri.
Your Name	Steve McMullin