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Fish Harvesting on Two TVA Mainstream Reservoirs
Author(s) -
Miller Lawrence F.
Publication year - 1951
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(1950)80[2:fhottm]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , bass (fish) , biology
From 1945 to 1950 a series of fish‐tagging studies has been conducted on two TVA mainstream reservoirs to determine the extent to which the crop is being harvested. The fish taken in hoop nets and seines were tagged in the upper left jaw with a No. 3 Monel metal tag and released in the immediate vicinity of their original capture. Sportsmen cooperated in the studies from 1948 through 1950. TVA census takers, Sportsmenˈs Club members, and the anglers checked the catches and turned in the tags taken from the fish. White crappie and white bass are the major sport fish in these two reservoirs. Poor harvesting of the sport fish crop is indicated by the fact that out of 6,028 fish tagged on Wheeler Reservoir from 1945 to 1950, only 89 tags have been returned (1.5 percent). On Guntersville Reservoir during 1948 to 1950, 5,506 fish have been tagged with a total of 53 tags returned (1.0 percent). Mortality from tagging does not appear to be a factor in the low return of marked fish. In a separate mortality study, where 100 each of tagged and untagged white crappie were observed, 8 tagged and 15 untagged fish died. Tagging studies on Guntersville Reservoir indicate a trend toward overpopulation of the white crappie. Most fish on TVA waters grow rapidly, but on Guntersville Reservoir 4‐year‐old crappie were only 8.6 inches long. Fifty percent of the crappie tagged were in the 7‐ to 8‐inch group and 36 percent were in the 8‐ to 9‐inch group.