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The Effect of Population Density of Legal‐Sized Trout upon the Yield per Standard Fishing Effort in a Controlled Section of Stream
Author(s) -
Schuck Howard A.
Publication year - 1942
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1941)71[236:teopdo]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - trout , salvelinus , fishing , fishery , fontinalis , brown trout , salmo , population , environmental science , catch and release , population density , biology , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , recreational fishing , demography , sociology
To determine how legal sized trout can be utilized most economically for the production of immediate fishing, the effect of different population densities of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and brown trout (Salmo trutta) was evaluated in terms of the number taken by angling in a section of stream. Approximately one‐quarter of a mile of Crystal Creek was blocked off by two weirs and the population density of trout controlled by periodic plantings. The yield per standard fishing effort was measured under different conditions in a series of fishing experiments. All catch data were reduced to a common level of numbers present by the analysis of covariance and comparisons between several classifications of fish were made. A highly significant difference was found between the catch of brook trout and brown trout with brook trout producing a much larger yield. The catch of brown trout was not significantly associated with the numbers present; evidently many factors in addition to population density operate in determining their catch. The catch of brook trout, however, was associated significantly with the population density, and this relationship was expressed by the equation Y = 0.0065 X + 0.5183, where Y = log (catch + 2), and X = number of brook trout present. With a fishing pressure of 11.4 hours per day, it would be necessary to stock approximately 396 brook trout per mile of stream to provide for a catch of 1.0 fish per hour under the conditions of this experiment. Densities of 346 and 244 fish, respectively, would produce yields of 0.8 and 0.5 fish per hour. It appears that brook trout are more desirable than are brown trout in the production of a maximum of fishing with the greatest economy. Their yield is much greater than that of brown trout and depends to a large extent upon the actual number stocked and not upon stream conditions as with brown trout.