Live fish highway: Uncovering the pathways that move millions of minnows across the United States

The long-distance transport of live baitfish represents a significant yet under-quantified pathway for the spread of aquatic invasive species and pathogens, posing a substantial threat to freshwater ecosystems and local economies across the United States. To address the lack of high-quality, quantitative data necessary for rigorous risk assessment and biosecurity policy, this dataset provides a comprehensive record of interstate baitfish trade flows between 2022 and 2024, synthesized from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to 58 government agencies across 43 states. The dataset captures the movement of 39.3 million live baitfish and an additional 746 transport events where specific quantities were not recorded, with data disaggregated by species and geographic origin-destination pairs. While the records reflect inherent variability in state government record-keeping, resulting in some data gaps, the dataset offers high reuse potential for researchers and policymakers to ide..., , # Live fish highway: Uncovering the pathways that move millions of minnows across the United States Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4zg](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34tmpg4zg) ## Description of the data and file structure This spreadsheet contains the data obtained from open records request relating to trade flows of live baitfish across the United States, extracted and assembled into a structured format more amenable to statistical analysis. For each of those 58 state government departments, we lodged a freedom-of-information/open records request with that department under the corresponding state's freedom-of-information/open records legislation. The request letter asked for copies of the completed license application documents corresponding to all licenses granted for the import of live finfish into the state during calendar years 2022, 2023, and 2024, as well as additional documents held by the department that contains details of species and quantity of live fish imported int..., ,