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Fisheries Monitoring in Pool 13, Upper Mississippi River, from Long Term Resource Monitoring. An Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Report

Bowler, Melvin C.. 2012. Fisheries Monitoring in Pool 13, Upper Mississippi River, from Long Term Resource Monitoring. An Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Report. 34 pp. (Please request reprints of the document from the author, Melvin Bowler).

Abstract

Fisheries monitoring as part of Long Term Resource Monitoring has been conducted on Pool 13 of the Upper Mississippi River since 1989. In this span, over 780,000 fish representing 88 species were collected in Pool 13. Eight of these species are currently listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the State of Iowa. Fisheries monitoring in 2011 represented the nineteenth year of stratified random sampling. A total of 300 fish samples were completed in 2011, yielding 12,899 fish of 59 species. Emerald shiner ranked first in total abundance during 1989-2011, with mimic shiner ranked second and bluegill third. Freshwater drum, largemouth bass, white bass, common carp, and black crappie were the next most abundant non-prey species collected. Population trends for selected species were analyzed using 1991-2011 monitoring data. The highest mean catch-per-unit-effort for common carp, freshwater drum, sauger, walleye, and white bass occurred in 1994. In 2011, a low abundance of channel catfish was observed in small hoop nets, although slightly above average age-0 abundance was detected in trawling. Peak abundance for largemouth bass occurred in 2011, while catch rates for black crappie from 2006-2011 were the lowest on record.

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