About the Wisconsin Fish Unit

The Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit has been an integral part of fisheries and aquatic science research and education in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point since 1971. The cooperators of this partnership include the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Unit objectives are to conduct world-class fisheries and aquatic science research of interest to cooperators, educate and train students at the Master’s degree level in fisheries and aquatic sciences, and provide extension services in fisheries and aquatic resource management. Areas of study that have been emphasized by the Unit during the past 30 years include: fish biology; fisheries management; conservation genetics; fish habitat analysis, design, and modeling; stock identification and assessment; Great Lakes fisheries; limnology; integrated land-water linkages; aquatic toxicology; and aquatic entomology. The Unit has a special interest in understanding how ecosystem processes are altered by anthropogenic activities having conducted several multidisciplinary projects assessing linkages between aquatic and terrestrial environments, and how to conserve genetic resources across landscapes. Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit studies have met and continue to meet the needs of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, other agencies, and the public.