The first international ictalurid symposium (Davenport, Iowa 1998) launched a decade of outstanding and highly focused science on the biology and management of catfishes. Catfish 2000: Proceedings of the International Ictalurid Symposium (Irwin et al.1999) and Biology and Culture of Channel Catfish (Tucker and Hargreaves 2004) quickly became standard references providing foundations for future work in the field. These major works, along with new scientific initiatives that followed them, were in response to increasing public, agency, and professional scientific awareness of (1) catfish angling as a popular and growing public activity (particularly angling for trophy-size fish), (2) catfishes as focal points for ascertaining environmental health andecosystem characteristics and processes, and (3) the role and influence of catfishes as members of fish assemblages.
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