As reservoirs age, existing habitat breaks down and ceases to provide benefit to reservoir fishes. Artificial fish habitat such as cubes provide a longer lasting alternative compared to more natural cedar or hardwood brush piles. However, constructing artificial cubes represent a more costly investment than traditional brush piles at a time when many wildlife agencies are faced with tightening budgets making it difficult to purchase and construct cubes at a beneficial scale. Based on success of different NGO’s at engaging the public to help fund habitat improvements across the country, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) fisheries staff developed a plan to fund and build Shelbyville cubes for waterbodies across the state by engaging the public and using a novel funding source. The ability to leverage additional monies through the Sport Fish Restoration Program enabled ODWC to multiply the money available and to benefit multiple water bodies instead of a singular water body as other efforts across the country have done. This in turn is expected to further engage the public across the state and grow support for cube builds in the future.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is responsible for managing freshwater fisheries resources in over 1,100 reservoirs and small impoundments in addition to 191,000 miles of streams, creeks, and rivers in the state. Many of these systems have suffered declines in habitat quantity and quality associated with land and water use patterns; and the state’s rapid population growth has led to increased pressure on currently available public access fishing locations. To address current and emerging needs for fish habitat conservation and restoration and the increasing demand for angler access in these systems, TPWD allocated funds generated from freshwater fishing license revenues to develop and support the Habitat and Angler Access Program (HAAP). The HAAP was established to support freshwater fish habitat restoration and enhancement efforts as well as shoreline-based angler access projects. The HAAP was conceptualized with two funding allocation mechanisms: a competitive grant program that supports projects led by external partners and an internal funding stream supporting habitat and access projects proposed by TPWD fisheries biologists. Successful development of the HAAP required establishing a framework that would a) address established fish habitat and angler access priorities, b) be supported among TPWD staff, c) follow protocols congruent with other successful TPWD grant programs to effectively allocate resources, and d) efficiently deliver outcomes (high quality habitat and access) to meet program objectives. A workgroup of TPWD fisheries biologists was tasked to develop the external grant framework that included drafting a request for proposals (RFP), proposal scoring system, project selection process, and regulatory compliance documentation. In addition, the workgroup facilitated a statewide needs assessment to identify thematic funding needs and priority shovel-ready projects for the internal funding stream. This discussion highlights the development of the HAAP framework and its implementation as well as challenges encountered, strategic priorities, projects selected for funding through the initial funding cycle, expected outcomes, and anticipated future steps of the program.

The Aquatic Habitat Program celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2022 and we will discuss how the program has been implemented and the impact it has made on Nebraska’s aquatic resources. Comparisons will be made on projects that have been conducted on both small and larger reservoirs and how these have differed regarding the expected outcomes.

In 2007, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), in cooperation with Bass Pro Shops, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Table Rock Lake Water Quality Inc. and many other partners began the National Fish Habitat Initiative (NFHI) project to sustain and improve the degrading physical habitat within Table Rock Lake. The project began in October 2007 and continued through December 2013 with funding totaling four million dollars. During this timeframe, a total of 2,024 fish habitat structures were installed in Table Rock Lake. In addition to Table Rock Lake, from 2016-2018, 193 brush piles were installed in Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake utilizing NFHI funding.
In 2022, MDC received a grant from Bass Pro Shops to replenish 645 brushpiles on Table Rock Lake and 35 brushpiles on Bull Shoals Lake to ensure they remain viable as fish attractors for anglers as well as serve as nursery habitats for sportfish recruitment in aging reservoirs where littoral habitat is degrading. This project began in November 2022 and will continue through December 2023. As of May 2023, 371 brushpiles have been rebuilt and 19 new brushpiles have been built in Table Rock Lake and 27 brushpiles have been rebuilt and 6 new brushpiles have been built in Bull Shoals Lake. The GPS locations of these brushpiles can be found on the MDC website at: https://mdc.mo.gov/fishing/where-fish.

In 2021, MDC began evaluating the longevity of brushpiles installed in Table Rock Lake and Bull Shoals Lake. Structures were given a ranking of 1-4 based on the amount of deterioration and this ranking system will be used to determine at what age a structure needs to be rebuilt. Preliminary results indicate that both cedar and hardwood structures should be replaced at least every 10 years. Based on the number of structures in each lake, approximately 5% of habitat structures should be rebuilt each year. Fish use evaluation of habitat structures using Garmin Livescope began in 2022 to further evaluate fish use of structures based on their condition. Structures from one to 14 years old are currently being evaluated in Table Rock Lake and seasonal use of brushpiles is being evaluated in Bull Shoals Lake.

This project builds upon a long-standing public/private partnership in southwest Missouri to improve and restore fish habitat and provides an excellent opportunity to proactively maintain and enhance fish habitat in two of the Midwest's most popular sport fisheries. The work that has been and continues to be conducted on these projects has served as a national example of sustaining and improving reservoir sport fish populations through large-scale habitat improvements.

Arkansas reservoirs are aging and much of the original habitat is degrading or has been lost. In order to address this issue, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) recently formed the AGFC Reservoir Habitat Team, whose objective is to address habitat degradation within Arkansas Reservoirs by focusing on fish habitat improvements, including building artificial and natural structures, restoring aquatic plant communities, conducting habitat evaluations, and developing stakeholder partnerships . In addition, AGFC recently teamed up with local high schools, volunteers, and businesses to form the Northwest Arkansas Fish Habitat Alliance. The Alliance will focus on improving fish habitat around Northwest Arkansas while also providing educational opportunities to local high school students. High School students will have the opportunity to build and deploy fish habitat structures, construct and maintain aquatic plant nurseries, and attend educational workshops focused on the importance of fish habitat management. With the formation of the AGFC Reservoir Habitat Team and the support from the Northwest Arkansas Fish Habitat Alliance, AGFC strives to combat reservoir habitat degradation head on.

HAB's continue to impact both small impoundments and reservoirs. Recent innovations in critical structural resonating frequency appear to have promising implications on mitigating harmful algal blooms of both Cyanobacteria Spp. and Golden Algae (Prymnesium parvum). We explore the laboratory and real life case studies currently underway and how sound frequencies are being used to collapse gas vacuoles of Cyanobacteria and remove flagella from Golden Algae. This renders the algae unable to move within the water column, causing it to sink and die off.

Interest in reservoir fish habitat improvement methods and evaluation has increased in recent years. Organizations like Bass Pro Shops and Friends of Reservoirs have made grant funding available to help financially support these projects and to bring awareness to their importance. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was recently awarded such a grant to help fund a wide scale fish habitat improvement project on Old Hickory Reservoir, located close to Nashville, TN. The project joined together funding from the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Agency and Bass Pro Shops to create 31 new fish habitat sites over a 7 mile stretch of the reservoir. Specifically, 10 sites received 20 "spiders" and 20 "jacks" each and will receive a special Bill Dance Fishing Trail buoy, 10 sites received three experimental structures each called "Tennessee Towers", and 11 sites received 100-150 tons of large (2-4' diameter) rock. Because of depth restrictions, most structures will be evaluated using down imaging sonar, hook and line sampling, and angler reports. Project costs, methods, lessons learned, and early evaluation information will be discussed.

A discussion led by Rebecca Krogman, one of several applicants for a multi-state grant regarding microplastics' association with artificial fish habitat structure.