Environmental Biology of Fishes - Call for Papers: Special Issue on the Underappreciated Native Fishes of North America and their Management

Submission deadline: April 30, 2024

Guest editors: Alec Lackmann, Solomon David, Doug Watkinson, and Margaret Docker

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue of Environmental Biology of Fishes focusing on native North American fish species that have been historically neglected due to archaic bias.

Freshwater or inland fishes have traditionally been categorized according to their perceived value to humans. However, by perpetuating the dichotomy of game or sport fishes versus other fishes—often relegating the “non-game” or “non-sport” fishes to the pejorative “rough fish” category—we fail to appreciate the intrinsic value of native fishes and their importance in healthy ecosystems. These non-game fishes have been historically maligned, either being the objects of benign neglect or even being subject to active removal if seen as competitors or predators (e.g., bowfin, gars) of desired species or if misidentified by anglers (e.g., native lampreys, buffalofishes and other suckers) as harmful invasive species. Research on the biology of these fishes is underrepresented in the literature, and there is generally inadequate, if any, harvest protections or other management plans. Expansion of new fishing techniques (e.g., bowfishing, microfishing) is expanding the number of fish species being placed into the game or sport fish categories, but the intrinsic value of all native fishes and their role in healthy ecosystems is still underappreciated.

In this Special Issue, we encourage submissions that focus on understanding these long-considered outcasts, especially those species that are undergoing rapid user-group shifts in exploitation, have outdated conservation assessments, or are already of conservation concern. Manuscripts can be original research or review articles, following the submission guidelines (this opens in a new tab) for Environmental Biology of Fishes articles.

Authors can submit manuscripts to be considered for this Special Issue by clicking on the Submit manuscript button and using the Editorial Manager (this opens in a new tab) procedure on the journal website. At the time of submission, authors will be asked if their manuscript belongs to a Special Issue, upon which they can select SI: Underappreciated Native Fishes.

All manuscripts will be considered on their own merits for review and eventual rejection or acceptance following standard journal procedures. Individual manuscripts will be published electronically online as soon as they are accepted. All accepted manuscripts will then be assembled and published as a Special Issue in one of the journal's print issues.