Cape, alligator gar to star in Animal Planet show Sunday

Local viewers may want to tune into Animal Planet's "Jeremy Wade's Mighty Rivers" at 8 p.m. Sunday to see Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries regional supervisor Christopher Kennedy featured in a segment on alligator gar.

The part addresses restocking of the long-snouted, sharp-toothed fish and why it is important and beneficial for Missouri.

Kennedy said the show's production crew was with MDC's fisheries for approximately four days during June to conduct the shoot, with it being done in "a couple different segments."

He said there is one segment he is featured where he described how MDC tracks the movements of alligator gar.

"We talk a lot about our restoration efforts; their ecological role; why they're beneficial to people and why we don't see them today," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he worked hard to reveal that side of the story of the freshwater fish that can reach more than 8 feet in length and weigh in excess of 300 pounds.

"I haven't had an opportunity to see a cut. They have kept it very hush-hush," Kennedy said. "It was presumed that Jeremy would retire, so the whole series was kind of a surprise."

Kennedy said they began looking into the possibility of restoring alligator gar in Missouri back in 1999, and at first it was met with "a lot of scrutiny" by anglers, the public and even other scientists.

He said the media took off shortly after a major in-house campaign to begin talking about the benefits of alligator gar started, which led to the MDC conducting its own research.

"We were one of the first state agencies to begin modern-day research on alligator gar," Kennedy said. "It was kind of considered a species that nobody really cared about and most people would prefer not to stay."

The disdain for the species, according to Kennedy, started around the early 1990s, and he has overseen a lot of research to dispel those myths from 2000 to 2007.

He said since the MDC is considered to be "on the forefront" of management of alligator gar, it placed them in the national limelight. He said those who had questions about alligator gar typically would end up coming to them for assistance.

Since 2007 the MDC has had opportunities to work with a variety of media sources locally, Kennedy said. They've even been featured on National Geographic talking about their efforts.

"It's nice to kind of complete the circuit and get on Animal Planet and talk a little bit more about what we've learned about alligator gar habitat and management of the species," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the main reason behind their efforts to restock the alligator gar is to "help balance" the native fish communities and to also help control current exotic species as well as future ones.

The overall understanding of predators in a lot of cases throughout history has been kind of warped, he said.

"We very rarely think about the positive interactions that they have with other fish communities and how they can benefit natural fish communities through time," Kennedy said.

Kennedy also emphasized when restocking the species, it does matter when and where the gar is released.

"We wanted to make sure we stocked them in areas where you have connectivity between the main river channel and wetland areas," Kennedy said. "We found some areas close to Cape, and we moved our stocking program further south all the way to the Arkansas border. We stocked the Mississippi River basin; we stocked the St. Francis River basin."

Kennedy said to "check the show out," because "it'll give you an opportunity to see more than just one small aspect of fish management that is going on in the area."

"It'll definitely give you a better and broader appreciation for the species, and hopefully we will all learn not to just judge a book by its cover," he said.

Jeremy Wade's Mighty Rivers airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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