EDUCATION
 

1991 Ph.D., Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
1983 M.S., Wildlife and Fisheries Science University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996

1979 B.S., Biology Augusta State University, 2500 Walton Way, Augusta, GA 30910.

 RECENT PUBLICATIONS
 

Thomas, R.G., J.A. Jenkins, and J. David. In review. Occurrence and distribution of Asian carps in Louisiana and a protocol for determining their ploidy. Proceedings of the Symposium on the Invasive Asian Carps in North America, August 2006. American Fisheries Society Special Publication.

Jenkins, J.A. and R. G. Thomas. Accepted for publication: 2007. Use of eyeballs for establishing ploidy of Asian carp. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

Baltz, D.M., R.G. Thomas, and E.J. Chesney. 2003. Spotted seatrout habitat affinities in Louisiana. 147-175 in Bortone, S.A., ed. Biology of the Spotted Seatrout, CRC Press, LLC.

Nieland, D.L., R.G. Thomas, and C.A. Wilson. 2002. Age, growth, and reproduction of spotted seatrout in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 131: 245-259.

Chesney, E.J., D.M. Baltz, and R. G. Thomas. 2000. Louisiana estuarine and coastal fisheries and habitats: perspectives from a fish’s eye view. Ecological Applications 10(2): 350 366.

Thomas, R. G. 1999. Fish habitat and coastal restoration in Louisiana. Pages 240 251 in L. R. Benaka, editor. Fish habitat: essential fish habitat and rehabilitation. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 22, Bethesda, Maryland.

Revisiting Coastal Restoration and Fishery Production in Louisiana

CREST – Coastal Restoration and Enhancement through Science and Technology. Invited Presentations: Advances in Coastal Restoration Research, 5/07

Invasive Aquatic Species in the Atchafalaya Basin

New Iberia Optimists Club, 5/07

Louisiana’s Coastal Extension Programs

Gulf Region Sea Grant / Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, 3/0

The Asian Carps in Louisiana: Occurrence, Distribution, Utilization, and Ploidy Determination

Louisiana Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/07.

Increasing Utilization of Asian Carp in Louisiana Bait Industries

Louisiana Wild Caught Crawfish Task Force, 1/07

Natural Resource Management in America’s Greatest Riverine Swamp Atchafalaya Basin Program Living Resources Committee, 9/06

Occurrence and Distribution of Asian Carps in Louisiana, and a Procedure for Determining their Ploidy Status

Symposium on the Invasive Asian Carps in North America, 8/06.

Storm Surge Scenarios for St. Mary Parish: Hurricane Rita and Future Projections Franklin Rotary Club. 8/06

Increasing Utilization of Asian Carp in Louisiana Bait Industries

Louisiana State Seafood Industry Advisory Board, 7/06

Economic Impacts to Louisiana Fisheries: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Louisiana & Mississippi Chapters American Fisheries Society Annual Meetings, 2/06

Mass Media Fisheries Extension

Fins and Waters:

Monthly news column: 3/2005-present

Archived at http://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/fins/index.htm

Published in regional publications:

Teche News, St. Martin parish

Banner Tribune (Franklin) and Daily Review (Morgan City), St. Mary parish

The Assumption Pioneer, Assumption parish

Circulation: 17,000

ADDED 06/2007: Bayou Journal, Lake Charles American Press, Dequincy News, New Orleans

Publishing Group (two newspapers), Lafayette Independent, Tri Parish Times, Welsh Citizen

Example Article (February 2007)

 Swamp Fish: Black Water, Brown Water, Green Water

Anyone who has fished in Louisiana backwaters knows that there are “types” of water that look different and hold different fish populations. A project conducted in the Atchafalaya Basin by Louisiana State University researchers showed just how well these appearances correlate with water chemistry and the use of different habitats by different species of fish.

Water in the main channels and bayous tends to be muddy and brown and flowing rapidly. This environment is characterized by high levels of dissolved oxygen (D.O.) and little oxygen “differential,” meaning the moving water is well mixed, so that D.O. at top and bottom is about the same. Brown water in the Basin is prime habitat for blue catfish, spotted bass, longear sunfish, freshwater drum (gaspergou) and bullhead minnows.

When river water stays for any length of time in the deeper and slower-moving lakes and bayous, there is a tendency for sediment to settle and phytoplankton to grow. This green water is often well oxygenated but stratified with higher D.O. near the surface. Green water sites often have lots of floating vegetation, and hold the widest variety of fish species. Numbers of bluegill, shad, white bass, largemouth bass, redear sunfish (chinquapin) and black crappie (sacalait) are all significantly higher in green water.

Flooded wooded swamps tend to develop black water, which is often oxygen-poor and lower in pH (more acid) and lower in conductance (dissolved salts and minerals). A distinct group of fishes often inhabits black water sites: warmouth (goggle-eye), spotted gar, pirate perch, black bullhead, and flier. These species may be better adapted to low oxygen conditions, but when D.O. gets really low, they often move to nearby oxygenated waters to survive.

The researchers noted that oxygen depletion is likely the most important factor in fish distribution and abundance in the Basin. High flow conditions in the early spring promote flushing of decomposing vegetation and give the best water quality (and probably fish production) for the rest of the year.

Source: Rutherford, D.A., K.G. Gelwicks, and W.E. Kelso. 2001. Physiochemical effects of the flood pulse on fishes in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 130:276-288.

Lagniappe: Monthly statewide fisheries newsletter: 6/2006-present. Over 1,200 subscribers.

Archived at: http://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/lagniappe/2007.htm

Example Article (May 1, 2007 Volume 31, No. 5)

Identification of Billfish Species Under Revision

New genetic studies of the world’s billfishes are demonstrating just how little is known about these fish. This work has also found that some previous classifications may have been incorrect, with serious implications for stock management.

Last year, two studies were published on the genetics of billfish. One looked at the relationships of all the billfish species (Collette and others) and another investigated the presence of the roundscale spearfish on our side of the Atlantic (Shivji and others). 

It was previously believed that billfish can be broken into two families, Xiphidae (with only one species, the swordfish) and Istiophoridae (including the sailfish genus Istiophorus, the genus of large marlins, Makaira, and the genus Tetrapturus, which includes the spearfishes and the white and striped marlins). While the swordfish clearly belonged in his own group, some researchers thought that the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations of both sailfishes and blue marlins included separate species; that white and striped marlin were actually one species; and no one was really sure how many spearfish species existed. This uncertainty makes management of these stocks an equally uncertain process.

The Collette study used mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequencing to demonstrate that even some of the classifications that have been widely accepted are probably incorrect. The researchers found that there are likely five genera within the family Istiphoridae, and proposed revision of the nomenclature for these groups: Makaira (blue marlin), Istiophorus (sailfish), Istiompax (black marlin), Kajika (striped and white marlin) and Tetrapturus (four spearfish species). The selected gene sequences also showed no evidence that separate species of Atlantic and Indo-Pacific sailfish or blue marlin existed.

The situation gets even more interesting with the new data on the spearfishes.  Collette found that the four species of spearfishes are closely related. In the Atlantic are the longbill (Tetrapturus pfluegeri), the Mediterranean (T. belone) and the roundscale (T. georgii), whose speciation had been questionable. The Indo-Pacific region has the shortbill spearfish, T. angustirostris. Another possible species has been seen in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico: The “hatchet marlin” has been collected only a few times. Collette’s DNA work showed that the “hatchet marlin” is very closely related to the roundscale spearfish, and does not exclude the possibility that they are the same species.

Extensive analysis of the roundscale spearfish by Shivji (and others) used DNA, body form and scale characteristics. It was found that this is almost definitely a distinct species, and that the few specimens collected in the past did not represent the full distribution of this fish. Those specimens were from the Eastern North Atlantic, but new collections from the Western North Atlantic (near the U.S.) also included roundscale spearfish. That this species looks almost identical to the white marlin forces fishery managers to consider the possibility that roundscale spearfish specimens have been counted in the stock assessments for white marlin. Stock assessments for white marlin have recently highlighted extreme concern for this species (classified as severely overfished), so the possibility of species misidentification is a very serious matter. Furthermore, the possibility that the “hatchet marlin,” which has been found in the Gulf, may be the same fish as the roundscale spearfish, extends this uncertainty about billfish populations into our region.

Sources:

Shivji, M.S., J.E. Magnussen, L.E. Beerkircher, G. Hinteregger, D.W. Lee, J.E. Serafy, and E.D. Prince. 2006. Validity, identification, and distribution of the Roundscale Spearfish, Tetrapturus georgii (Teleostei: Istiophoridae): morphological and molecular evidence. Bulletin of Marine Science, 79(3): 483-491.

Collette, B.B., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2006. Phylogeny of recent billfishes (Xiphioidei). Bulletin of Marine Science 79(3): 455-468.

Hoese, H.D. and R.H. Moore. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico: Texas, Louisiana, and Adjacent Waters . College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

Recent Professional Society Activities:

President, La. Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/1/2004-2/2/2006.

President-Elect, La. Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/1/2002-2/1/2004

Chair, Annual Meeting Organizing Committee, La. Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/1/2002-2/1/2004

Chair, Awards Committee, La. Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/2/2006-present.

Chair, Nominating Committee, La. Chapter American Fisheries Society, 2/2/06-present.

La. Chapter American Fisheries Society Executive Committee 2/1/02-present

LA/MS Chapters AFS Annual Meeting, Natchez, MS 1/31/05-2/2/06.

National AFS Meeting, Anchorage, Alaska, 9/11/05-9/14/05

La. Outdoor Writer's Association. Fish Records Committee. 2005-present.
Baton Rouge, 12/13/2005; New Orleans, 3/22/06.  Coordinating state fish records, awards, and press.

Other Professional Activities and Affiliations :

National Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Coordination and Enhancement Committee (SGFXCEC): 2005-present: tasked with increasing the effectiveness of Sea Grant Extension fishery programs nationwide by coordinating all fisheries-related activities of Sea Grant extension across the Sea Grant regions and by working with partner fishery agencies and organizations, the fishing industry and fishermen.

SGFXCEC National Meeting Organization Committee 11/2005-present. Planning the first national meeting of Sea Grant fisheries extension professionals: October 2006.

SGFXCEC/AFS Symposium Planning Committee 1/2005-present.  Planning of extension-related symposia for national AFS conferences.

LA/MS Chapters AFS Annual Meeting, Natchez, MS 1/31/05-2/2/06. 

National AFS Meeting, Anchorage, Alaska, 9/11/05-9/14/05.

Conflict Resolution; a fisheries extension workshop:  American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, 9/11/2005.

National Sea Grant Academy:  Session 1, National Conference Center, Washington DC, 3/6-11, 2005. Session 2: Program Plans; Summer 2005.   Sea Grant Academy Session 3; Pensacola, FL 9/27-30 2005.

Atchafalaya Basin Program Living Resources Committee; Chair:  6/15/2004, 5/2006-present.

Louisiana State University School of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries: Affiliate Member, Graduate Faculty, 1996-2000.

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council:  Red Drum Stock Assessment Panel, 1995-2001.

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council: Special Red Drum Scientific and Statistical Committee, 1995-2000.

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council: Mississippi/Louisiana Habitat Protection Advisory Panel, 1997-2001.

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council: Essential Fisheries Habitat Technical Review Panel, 7/97-1/98.

Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission: Technical Coordination Committee Habitat Subcommittee, 1997-2001.

Barataria‑Terrebonne National Estuary Program Management Conference, 1995-2001. 

Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Interagency Advisory Committee, 1999‑2001. 

Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion Interagency Advisory Committee, 1995-2001. 

Coast 2050 Planning Management Team, 1998-2000.

Memberships :

American Fisheries Society .

Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society.