The YY male consortium consortium is an initiative sponsored by the western association of fish and wildlifeagencies wafwa to develop new approaches for eradicating invasive fish species for the…

The YY male consortium consortium is an initiative sponsored by the western association of fish and wildlifeagencies wafwa to develop new approaches for eradicating invasive fish species for the benefit of sportfishing and native fish conservation. Wafwa represents 24 states and canadian provinces covering nearly 3.7 million square miles of some of north americas most wild and scenic country inhabited by over 1500 premier wildlife species. Since 1922 wafwas goal has been to support sound resource management and build partnerships at all levels to conserve wildlife for the use and benefit of all citizens now and in the future. Our mission is to advance collaborative proactive sciencebased fish and wildlife conservation and management across the west.annually fish managers spend millions of dollars attempting to eradicate invasive fish species through chemicaland mechanical removal with few documented cases of success. In addition with new introductions of invasivefish managers have few tools to stop an introduction before the invasive fish gets established. The consortiumswork is based on the following approach. Male fish typically have an X and a Y chromosome but in the hatcheryscientists have developed genetically all YY male broodstocks capable of producing large numbers of YY male fish for use in combating invasive fish. The basic approach is simple. For eradication efforts you remove 2550% of the target invasive fish species annually and then stock an equivalent number of YY males to replace the fishthat are removed. The YY males breed with wild females and produce only male offspring. Over time the invasive population become all males. When this occurs you continue stocking YY males until the invasive population dies out in a matter of years depending on how long lived the species is. Because the YY males are not genetically modified organisms GMO if the decision is made to stop the program the SEX ratio will return to 50:50 male to female and continue on completely reversible. In the case of new introductions if they are detected early and a YY male broodstock is available for the targetspecies you simply stock the YY males with the invasive population and convert them to all males quickly neverallowing the introduction to get going. In addition where concerns about reinvasion are elevated onceeradication is achieved YY males can continue to be stocked at low levels to prevent any reinvasions fromtaking off. Ongoing field studies across the west are now demonstrating that invasive brook trout can beeradicated from small streams in less than 10 years using YY male brook trout. Currently the YY male brook trout hatchery stock is the only one fully developed and being field tested. The consortium was formed in 2018 and has continued to pioneer the development and use of YY male fish as a tool to combat invasive fishes. The consortium has focused on developing the science that will lead to the creation of YY male broodstocks for five invasive species common carp walleye and lake trout brown trout and northern pike. With this proposal the consortium seeks additional funding to accelerate and enhance three critical components of their research monitoring and evaluation plan over the next 3YEARS. They are 1 complete the science for brown trout and common carp YY male broodstocks 2 work with federal regulatory agencies to provide regulatory approval for development of new YY male broodstocks and 3 increase funding for the consortium coordinator currently time to ensure the expanded scope and actions associated with this funding have the necessary oversight. Beneficiaries will include the general public who will benefit with the restoration of native fishes and their associated fisheries along with fisheries managers who will have new tools to combat one of the most pervasive impacts to the rivers and lakes they manage for the public.