Pirate Perch - Current Management

Current Management

It is known that the pirate perch inhabit backwater areas, with an absence of fast currents and an abundance of plant life. With the pirate perch using underwater root masses to breed, it can be assumed that most breed near the edges of rivers or lakes. With this in mind, it is easy to see how urbanization and development could cause problems for these fish. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, some major threats that could affect these habitats could be the effects that siltation may have due to poor upland treatment. A big problem that could affect these fish would be the overall loss of their weedy habitat in which they live in during the day. The loss of this habitat would expose them to the pressures of the environment from which they hide. Since these fish reside in habitats with slight water current, a change upstream such as water channels, dams, or drainages could alter the flow of water in that system which could change the rate at which water flows downstream. Impacts from humans can also be felt in their habitats. Water pollution as a result from agricultural runoff and discharge from urban areas can create environments unsuitable for these species. There is very little being done for these fish at the current time. Ohio has expressed some interest in conserving the species due to the perch having such a small area in which it can inhabit in the north-western part of the state. Besides Ohio, there is little concern about this species overall.