Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems

<em>Abstract</em>.—In the 1990s, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Section, responded to angler requests to manage the state’s waters on a more individual basis. Individual waters management often included the development of length-based regulations and/or bag limit reductions. Although the move towards individual waters management was biologically sound and by and large supported by anglers, it also created some problems. By the late 1990s, there were more than 150 specialized regulations for northern pike <em>Esox lucius</em>, walleyes <em>Sander vitreus</em>, largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides</em>, smallmouth bass <em>M. dolomieu</em>, black crappies <em>Pomoxis nigromaculatus</em>, white crappies <em>P. annularis</em>, and bluegills <em>Lepomis macrochirus</em>. With management responsibility on more than 6,000 lakes, it became clear that some type of regulation streamlining or standardization was needed. Public input meetings indicated that anglers wanted continued individualized management of lakes and the opportunity to catch quality-sized fish but were concerned about the growing number and complexity of regulations. In response, species-specific work groups consisting of research and management biologists were formed to identify what biological information was available and what was needed to develop a set of species-specific regulations. Standardized regulations were developed for northern pike, walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegills, and both species of crappies. We discuss the development of the standardized regulations for crappies, where size and bag limit categories were established based on growth and natural mortality targets. Future field collections will be required to measure the effectiveness of these regulations.

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 957-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilbur L. Mauck ◽  
Daniel W. Coble

To compare vulnerability to predation by northern pike (Esox lucius Linnaeus), several species of fish in various combinations were held with pike in plastic swimming pools with and without cover and in small ponds. The most vulnerable species in order were gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), carp (Cyprinus carpio), bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui). White sucker (Catostomus commersoni), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) showed intermediate vulnerability. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), northern pike, bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and black bullhead (Ictalurus melas) were least vulnerable. In two experiments in which fish were put in cages in turbid water, relative vulnerability was the same as in clearer water. Pike could not be conditioned to eat golden shiner or bluegill. There was a tendency for certain sizes of pike to select the smaller carp, fathead minnow, and bluegill within the size ranges tested.


1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Keast

In Lake Opinicon, Ontario, the diet of the black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, undergoes a progressive change from one in which planktonic Crustacea and small-bodied Diptera larvae predominate (in fish of body length from about 60 to 115 mm), to a diet of insect larvae and fish (in fish 160–240 mm). Most food items prove to be midwater forms and the Diptera larvae are almost entirely Chaoborus and Procladius, which are free-swimming in the water column at night.An unusual feature is the prolonged nature of the Cladocera-Copepoda eating phase, which continues into year III and to a body length of about 160 mm. Gill-raker counts show P. nigromaculatus to have a specialized screen with 25–29 rakers on the first arch. In this it differs from cohabiting centrarchids in Lake Opinicon, Ambloplites rupestris, Micropterus salmoides, and Lepomis macrochirus, in which the rakers on the first arch number only 8–12. In these species plankton feeding is restricted to the earlier stages.


1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shibru Tedla ◽  
C. H. Fernando

Analysis of incidence and intensity of infestation of yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), by the glochidia of Lampsilis radiata from weekly samples from May to September and single samples in October and November indicate that the two subspecies, Lampsilis radiata radiata and Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea, shed their glochidia in late spring and throughout the summer in the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Smaller fish are more heavily infested with these glochidia than larger ones. About 50% of the preparasitic glochidia of Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea survived for 12, 70, and 120 h at 20°, 12°, and 10 °C respectively. The parasitic period of the glochidia of L. r. siliquoidea on yellow perch under experimental conditions was 50 days at 15 °C from the May infestation. Yellow perch carried the glochidia for a longer period from an August infestation. All the glochidia recovered 50 days after infestation, both from May and August infestations, had undergone metamorphosis. There was no difference in the degrees of infestation of the different species of fish used in our experiments. Pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus); rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque); and white perch, Roccus americanus (Gmelin) lost their infestations in a week. Presumably no metamorphosis took place under these conditions. Black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus (LeSueur); largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), smallmouth bass, M. dolomieui Lacepede: and yellow perch carried the infestation till they were killed 20 days later. There was no relationship between the numbers of glochidia (Lampsilis radiata) and copepods, (Ergasilus confusus Bere) on naturally infested yellow perch, nor on rock bass, smallmouth bass, and pumpkinseed which harbored Ergasilus spp. naturally and which were infested with the glochidia of L. r. siliquoidea experimentally.


<em>Abstract</em>.—We evaluated the influence of lake morphometry, water quality, and common carp <em>Cyprinus carpio </em>and largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides </em>population structure on quality black crappie <em>Pomoxis nigromaculatus </em>and bluegill <em>Lepomis macrochirus </em>populations for 20 Iowa impoundments. Growth of black crappie was positively related to growth of largemouth bass. Black crappie catch per unit effort (CPUE) was positively associated with watershed size and alkalinity and negatively related to largemouth bass growth. Size structure of bluegill populations was positively influenced by chlorophyll concentrations and largemouth bass catch rates. Total phosphorus and CPUE of stock-to-quality length largemouth bass were also positively related to bluegill growth. Bluegill CPUE was inversely related to largemouth bass growth. Quality largemouth bass populations were allied with turbid (high total suspended solids and low Secchi disk depth) impoundments that had a diverse shoreline and large watersheds. Largemouth bass growth was inversely related to mean depth, and largemouth bass CPUE was inversely related to alkalinity and total suspended solids. Information from this study will be used to classify and rank impoundments in terms of their management priorities. Based on impoundment morphometry and water quality, managers can then target management practices toward species best suited to a particular impoundment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2486
Author(s):  
Jong-Yun Choi ◽  
Seong-Ki Kim

Empirical studies suggest that changes in the density of top predators, such as carnivorous fish, in freshwater food webs, strongly affect not only fish communities but also various primary and secondary consumers. Based on these findings, we explored how differences in the utilization of carnivorous fish (i.e., Northern Snakehead, Channa argus) by humans affected the fish and cladoceran community structure as well as the settlement of exotic fish species (i.e., Lepomis macrochirus and Micropterus salmoides) in 30 wetlands located in the upper and lower reaches of the Nakdong River. Our results show that in the mid–lower reaches of the Nakdong River, the density of C. argus was low, while high densities of L. macrochirus and M. salmoides were observed. Exotic fish species are frequently consumed by C. argus, leading to a low density of L. macrochirus and M. salmoides in the upper reaches, which supported a high density of C. argus. However, in the mid–lower reaches, the density of L. macrochirus was high because of the frequent collection of C. argus by fishing activities. The dominance of L. macrochirus significantly changed the structure of cladoceran communities. L. macrochirus mainly feeds on pelagic species, increasing the density of epiphytic species in the mid–lower reaches. The continued utilization of C. argus by humans induced a stable settlement of exotic fish species and strongly affected the community structures of primary consumers in the 30 wetlands. The frequency of C. argus collection has to be reduced to secure biodiversity in the mid–lower reaches of the Nakdong River, which will reduce the proportion of exotic fish species and increase the conservation of native fish.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 1951-1959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Jagoe ◽  
Dave A. Welter

Chromosome number and genomic DNA content vary widely among fish species, and ploidy can vary within species. This suggests that the size, shape, and morphological features of cell nuclei may also vary. Nucleated erythrocytes of fish are an easily sampled homogeneous population of differentiated cells ideal for inter- and intra-species comparisons. We collected blood samples from largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), chain pickerel (Esox niger), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), redeye bass (Micropterus coosae), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and removed cytoplasm and nuclear membranes from blood cells. Individual nuclei were examined and measured using scanning electron microscopy and a computerized image analysis system, and inter- and intra-species differences evaluated by nested analysis of variance. Nuclear size and shape varied significantly among species. Isolated nuclei had conspicuous apertures or holes, and the number and size of these holes also varied significantly among species. Variations in nuclear size and structure within species were small compared with interspecies differences. Little is known of the ultrastructure of erythrocyte nuclei in lower vertebrates, but their structure differs considerably from that of other vertebrate non-erythroid cells, suggesting that the organization of their DNA and associated proteins may be different.


Koedoe ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I.A. Russell

Fish assemblages were sampled at six sites in the Breede River in the Bontebok National Park during 1999 and 2000. A total of 380 fish from 12 species was recorded. Indigenous fish collected included one freshwater species (Barbus andrewi), two catodromous species (Anguilla mossambica, Myxus capensis). and three estuarine species (Gilchris- tella aestuaria, Monodactylusfalciformis, Mugil cephalus). Four of the species recorded were aliens (Tinea tinea, Lepomis macrochirus, Micropterus salmoides, Micropterus dolomieu) and two species translocated from other South African rivers (Tilapia sparrmanii, Clarias gariepinus). A further two indigenous species (Sandelia capensis, Pseudobarbus biirchelli) could potentially occur within the park, though the high abundance of alien predators means that there is little chance for recolonisation from tributaries higher in the Breede River system. There is little opportunity to meaningfully conserve most indigenous freshwater fish in Bontebok National Park.


<em>Abstract.</em>—An investigation of historical fisheries information for pools 4–13 of the upper Mississippi River (UMR) was conducted to 1) determine the pre-1938 relative abundance and distribution of bluegill <em>Lepomis macrochirus </em>and largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides, </em>2) determine the composition and relative abundance of the preimpoundment fish assemblage, and 3) determine if a shift in frequency of occurrence and relative abundance has occurred due to impoundment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J J Lomax ◽  
T F Martinson ◽  
Y E Jimenez ◽  
E L Brainerd

Synopsis In ray-finned fishes, the sternohyoideus (SH) is among the largest muscles in the head region and, based on its size, can potentially contribute to the overall power required for suction feeding. However, the function of the SH varies interspecifically. In largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and several clariid catfishes, the SH functions similarly to a stiff ligament. In these species, the SH remains isometric and transmitts power from the hypaxial musculature to the hyoid apparatus during suction feeding. Alternatively, the SH can shorten and contribute muscle power during suction feeding, a condition observed in the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) and one clariid catfish. An emerging hypothesis centers on SH muscle size as a predictor of function: in fishes with a large SH, the SH shortens during suction feeding, whereas in fish with a smaller SH, the muscle may remain isometric. Here, we studied striped surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis), a species in which the SH is relatively large at 8.8% of axial muscle mass compared with 4.0% for L. macrochirus and 1.7% for M. salmoides, to determine whether the SH shortens during suction feeding and is, therefore, bifunctional—both transmitting and generating power—or remains isometric and only transmits power. We measured skeletal kinematics of the neurocranium, urohyal, and cleithrum with Video Reconstruction of Moving Morphology, along with muscle strain and shortening velocity in the SH and epaxial muscles, using a new method of 3D external marker tracking. We found mean SH shortening during suction feeding strikes (n = 22 strikes from four individual E. lateralis) was 7.2 ± 0.55% (±SEM) of initial muscle length. Mean peak speed of shortening was 4.9 ± 0.65 lengths s−1, and maximum shortening speed occurred right around peak gape when peak power is generated in suction feeding. The cleithrum of E. lateralis retracts and depresses but the urohyal retracts and depresses even more, a strong indicator of a bifunctional SH capable of not only generating its own power but also transmitting hypaxial power to the hyoid. While power production in E. lateralis is still likely dominated by the axial musculature, since even the relatively large SH of E. lateralis is only 8.8% of axial muscle mass, the SH may contribute a meaningful amount of power given its continual shortening just prior to peak gape across all strikes. These results support the finding from other groups of fishes that a large SH muscle, relative to axial muscle mass, is likely to both generate and transmit power during suction feeding.


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