Avoiding Sucky Observations
I am amazed and inspired to see all the observations coming in to the Sucker Watch project, to everyone who has contributed thus far, thank you! With spawning season getting underway, I am really looking forward to seeing some observations of spawning fish start to trickle in. With that said, there are a few things to consider when/before making/uploading observations for this project.
1. Spotlighting sensitive populations of spawning fishes
This is a big one, and something that I had not fully considered before having some good conversations from many sucker aficionados in the US. As I have learned, posting large congregations of spawning Catostomids may expose them to overharvest by bowfishers (especially in the US where this is more prevalent). I defer to your discretion on whether or not you feel that the population you are posting is sensitive and/or not well known to the public already. If you are in a major urban center for example, documenting a well known population, it may be at lower risk. If you feel that your observation could pose a risk to spawning fish in any way, please change the geoprivacy setting to "private". This will obscure the coordinates from anyone but me. Similarly, if you feel that inclusion of the waterbody name increases risk, you can leave that field blank.
2. Posting observations of a single specimen
While I strongly encourage you to upload observations of suckers that you've come across either as an angler, diver, fishwatcher, etc, this sort of observation is not really the focus of this project. What I am primarily looking for is observations of spawning suckers. If your observation of a single fish is a specimen captured from a group of spawners, please make sure the comment field reflects this. To see an example of an ideal observation of spawning suckers, check out this great Sucker Watch observation by iNaturalist user @georectified
3. Some guidance on the custom fields
I have been asked for additional guidance on some of the fields, and I would like to provide that here:
Number of individuals spotted - this is a count or estimate of the total number of individual suckers you were able to see during your observation.
Waterbody name - if the stream is named it can be entered here, otherwise leave blank
Water temperature - this can be measured using a thermometer or derived from an existing dataset such as a stream gauging station for example. To convert F to C, you can use the formula (°F − 32) × 5/9 = °C, or simply type (value)F to C into Google and let it do the work for you. Many phones also have built in conversion tools
Water Depth (m) - this attribute can be estimated or measured, and should be measured at the location in which the fish were spawning. For instance if a large group of suckers is observed spawning in 30cm of water, you would enter 0.3. Please don't wade into spawning areas just to get a water depth measure, better to estimate or measure a similar area within reach of shore to avoid trampling any eggs or disturbing spawning fish.
Water Clarity - this is intended to be a visual estimation of how murky (1) or clear (10) the water is.
Weather description - this can be a basic description of the weather at the time of your observation, for example "overcast" or "sunny".
Comments - please use this field to add any additional info you'd like to be captured about the observation, the spawning activity, fish condition, etc.
Happy Watching!
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