On a sweltering summer day in 2010, Christine Warren stepped into a 24-foot canoe and paddled toward a goal that she never previously imagined possible. The Texas Water Safari is a 260-mile paddle race from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. Run continuously since 1963, the course follows the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers to the coastal fishing town of Seadrift. Paddlers must complete the race in 100 hours. While the exhausting pace and blistering heat are reason enough to bow out, it's the ancillary hurdles that often eliminate racers long before the finish line: dam portages, water moccasins, logjams, mosquitoes, dysentery, alligators, sleep deprivation, and equipment failures. Paddlefish is the first complete narrative ever published on The Texas Water Safari. With a mixture of humor, misery, history and triumph, Christine has written an engaging and entertaining memoir of her yearlong transformation from a mom, writer and fly fisher, to a viable competitor in "The World's Toughest Boat Race." If you've ever wondered what extraordinary challenges lurk beyond your comfort zone, this book may help you discover what's ultimately possible.

Paddlefish have become of increasing interest to the aquaculture community in recent years, particularly as a potential new source of seafood and caviar. Native to North America, paddlefish show great promise both domestically and internationally as a commercially viable farmed species. Paddlefish Aquaculture examines all aspects of the biology and culture of these fish, exploring their physiology, production, end products and the economics underlying a successful paddlefish operation. Chapters specifically cover paddlefish biology, propagation and early culture techniques, production for meat and caviar, international culture and history, paddlefish food products, bioaccumulants of contaminants in paddlefish, parasites and diseases, and the economics of paddlefish aquaculture. Paddlefish Aquaculture is a timely practical reference for researchers and producers interested in paddlefish.

Paddlefish have become of increasing interest to the aquaculture community in recent years, particularly as a potential new source of seafood and caviar. Native to North America, paddlefish show great promise both domestically and internationally as a commercially viable farmed species. Paddlefish Aquaculture examines all aspects of the biology and culture of these fish, exploring their physiology, production, end products and the economics underlying a successful paddlefish operation. Chapters specifically cover paddlefish biology, propagation and early culture techniques, production for meat and caviar, international culture and history, paddlefish food products, bioaccumulants of contaminants in paddlefish, parasites and diseases, and the economics of paddlefish aquaculture. Paddlefish Aquaculture is a timely practical reference for researchers and producers interested in paddlefish.

If changed by development, the authors found the present Osage valley landscape expressive. Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs, period maps, and vintage images, this book tells the dramatic saga of human ambition pitted against natural limitations and forces beyond man's control.

This volume presents a synthesis of basic biological and conservation data for more than 30 species of sturgeons (Acipenseridae), paddlefishes (Polyodontidae) and their fossil allies in the order Acipenseriformes. Since the Jurassic, the four families of sturgeon-like fish have been restricted to the Holarctic, where until very recently they flourished in most major river systems. Today, however, virtually all species of sturgeons and paddlefishes face difficult conservation issues. Papers in the first section of this volume examine paleontology, systematics, evolution and basic biology of Acipenseriformes. The second section of this volume details current conservation status for most of the world's living species of Acipenseriformes. These papers mark the first attempt to make such a global review of recent data from across the northern hemisphere. The emerging picture is discouraging, for negative anthropogenic impacts range from overfishing to water pollution, to dams and water diversion projects, and all species are threatened to some degree. The third section of the volume considers specific human impacts and responses to conservation issues. These include: the Aral Sea ecological disaster and its impact on native sturgeons; a review of methods for restoring sturgeon populations; the use of molecular techniques in developing conservation strategies; the extreme sensitivity of sturgeons and paddlefishes to overfishing; and the history of a recently convicted caviar poaching ring. The volume's summary reviews the status of all extant species and notes future directions for research on behavior, ecology and population biology that could lead to better co-ordinated international conservation efforts.

Warren, Jr.