Long Term Resource Monitoring Program outpool fisheries analysis Chick, J. H., and M. A. Pegg. 2004. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program outpool fisheries analysis: Final report. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin. March 2004. LTRMP 2004-T001. 21 pp. ABSTRACT This study was designed to assess whether fish community data collected for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) from six regional trend analysis (RTA) areas of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) can be used to make inferences to the system as a whole. Spatial coverage of fish monitoring for three LTRMP field stations was extended to "outpools" immediately above and below RTA pools 4 and 13 and the Open River Reach from June 15 to October 31, 2000. Also, we sampled Navigation Pools 19 and 20 using LTRMP electrofishing methodology in September 2000. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to group pools on the basis of fish community composition and community structure. Cluster analysis of community composition and structure data revealed two major groups of pools: upper pools (i.e., northern) and lower pools (i.e., southern). Navigation Pools 19 and 20 grouped with lower pools in terms of community composition, and with upper pools in terms of community structure. Analysis of community composition data yielded four subgroups, with La Grange Pool forming its own subgroup. Analysis of community structure yielded five subgroups, with La Grange Pool and Pool 8 forming unique subgroups. In general, all outpools grouped with the nearest RTA pools for both community composition (no exception) and community structure (one exception). Strong correlations between the community composition and structure matrices with distance between pools suggest that fish communities in relatively close pools are more similar than in pools separated by larger distances. Habitat variables measured during electrofishing collections were significantly correlated with spatial variation of fish composition and community structure, but provided only marginal improvements to correlations with distance between pools alone. Results of this study lend support to the premise that LTRMP fish community data could potentially be used to make inferences to the entire UMRS, because current RTA areas are evenly distributed within the major pool groupings identified in this study. Nevertheless, further research is needed to resolve how fish communities in Navigation Pools 19 and 20 and other lower UMRS pools compare to present RTA areas. KEY WORDS Analysis, fish community, LTRMP, Mississippi River, navigation pool, trend analysis, UMRS