Freshwater Mussel Propagation for Restoration

Freshwater mussels are declining rapidly worldwide. Propagation has the potential to restore numbers of these remarkable organisms, preventing extinction of rare species and maintaining the many benefits that they bring to aquatic ecosystems. Written by practitioners with firsthand experience of propagation programs, this practical book is a thorough guide to the subject, taking readers through the process from start to finish. The latest propagation and culture techniques are explored as readers follow freshwater mussels through their amazing and complex life cycle. Topics covered include the basics of building a culture facility, collecting and maintaining brood stock, collecting host species, infesting host species with larval mussels, collecting and culturing juvenile mussels, releasing juveniles to the wild, and post-release monitoring. This will be valuable reading for any biologist interested in the conservation of freshwater mussel populations.

'Freshwater Mussel Propagation for Restoration … is an instructive manuscript on mussel propagation to abate threatened and endangered species or manage population density using a detailed plan for freshwater mussel culture. The images and figures in the book are excellent quality and give the reader thorough text and imagery. [The authors] have choreographed a must have tool, for freshwater mussel biologists and culturists, that details freshwater mussel ecology, life history, biology, husbandry, and most importantly sustainability.' Matthew Wipf, American Fisheries Society

Matthew A. Patterson is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia. Since arriving at the NCTC, Matthew has created three formal training courses in freshwater mussels including Conservation Biology of Freshwater Mussels, Freshwater Mussel Identification, and Freshwater Mussel Propagation for Restoration. Tony Brady is a Deputy Project Leader with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the Welaka National Fish Hatchery. Julie L. Devers is a Fish Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the Maryland Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. Nathan Eckert is a Mussel Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery. Catherine M. Gatenby is a Senior Fish Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. She managed the Freshwater Mussel Propagation Program at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery for ten years. Jess W. Jones is a Restoration Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, based at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg. He is also an Associate Professor at Virginia Tech. Rachel Mair is a Fisheries Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. She directs operations for the mussel program at the cooperative Virginia Fisheries Aquatic Wildlife Center at Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery. Rachel has over nineteen years of experience in freshwater mussel propagation and has worked with over 90 species. Bryan R. Simmons is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the Missouri Ecological Services Field Office.