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The Fishery in Lake Wappapello, A Flood‐Control Reservoir on the St. Francis River, Missouri
Author(s) -
Patriarche Mercer H.
Publication year - 1953
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(1952)82[242:tfilwa]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishery , standing crop , acre , population , fishing , geography , cove , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , ecology , archaeology , agroforestry , biology , geology , demography , geotechnical engineering , sociology , biomass (ecology)
Lake Wappapello, an impoundment on the St. Francis River in southeastern Missouri, was created in 1941 by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, as part of the flood‐control program for the lower Mississippi River. At conservation‐pool level (355 feet, Mean Gulf Level) the reservoir has a surface area of approximately 6,000 acres and more than 50 percent of the lake is less than 5 feet deep. At times of high water the area may be expanded to 23,100 acres. Prompted by the decline in fishing success, particularly for black bass, the Missouri Conservation Commission launched a series of investigations in 1948. The results of 4 years of fish‐population surveys made by means of nets, seines, and rotenone are presented. White crappie and carp consistently were the most abundant species in the nets. These fish constituted, respectively, 52 and 20 percent by number of the total net catch. Rotenone sampling in two small coves in 1951 indicated that the backwater areas support an average standing crop of 273 pounds of fish per acre. The buffalos were the most abundant (122.4 pounds per acre) followed by carp (26.8 pounds per acre). Adult black bass were recovered at the rate of 7.6 pounds per acre. Nine percent of the average standing crop consisted of game fish of usable size. Data on age composition of the population and rate of growth of 8 species are offered as further evidence of the status of the population. In general, the calculated growth rates of these fishes may be considered as average compared with the rates of growth of the same species in other Missouri impoundments except for bluegill and gizzard shad, which grow slowly. Creel‐census data acquired during the period 1946–1951 show that white crappie comprised over 80 percent of the catch in each of the 6 years. From the intensive creel census initiated in 1951, it was estimated that fish were harvested at the rate of 6.3 pounds per acre. Fishing pressure was estimated to be 21 hours per acre. Only 1 percent of the fishing was done with artificial lures. In a discussion of management procedures it is suggested that a commercial fishery be considered for this reservoir to utilize the non‐game fishery resource which is not harvested adequately at the present time.