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Restocking after Fishkills as a Fisheries Management Strategy
Author(s) -
Bryson William T.,
Lackey Robert T.,
Cairns John,
Dickson Kenneth L.
Publication year - 1975
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(1975)104<256:rafaaf>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - stocking , ictalurus , fishery , catfish , fishing , fish <actinopterygii> , fisheries management , agricultural science , business , biology
Research on stocking the New River with channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) following a partial fishkill showed restocking to be unsuccessful and of no measurable benefit to the fishery. Only an estimated 50 of the 3,000 channel catfish stocked were recovered by anglers. Cost of each recovered fish was $18.00, based on the initial stocking cost. Factors contributing to the failure of the restocking program probably include the considerable time between the fishkill and restocking (16 months), natural repopulation from unaffected areas, and the relatively small size of the “catchable” stocked fish. A survey of state fisheries agencies (43 replies) regarding restocking policy following a fishkill showed that: (1) twenty states do not restock as a normal policy; (2) fourteen states said they did not restock following fishkills; (3) twenty‐seven state agencies replied that they had methods for economic evaluation of fishkills (ranging from a constant price per pound or number, regardless, of species, to the Southern Division, American Fisheries Society, method which gives costs per inch and/or per pound of a species or family); and (4) a consensus existed that no detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of restocking after fishkills has been made.