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Annual Fluctuation in Abundance of the Commercial Fisheries of the Mississippi River and Tributaries
Author(s) -
Risotto Stephen P.,
Turner R. Eugene
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1985)5<557:afiaot>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - tributary , floodplain , environmental science , fishery , abundance (ecology) , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , flooding (psychology) , structural basin , catch per unit effort , tonne , hectare , geography , biology , geology , psychology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , psychotherapist , paleontology , archaeology , agriculture
This report is an attempt to explain the annual variations in fish catches from the Mississippi River basin for the period 1954 to 1976. It analyzes National Marine Fisheries Service catch‐effort data for the total basin, four regional sub‐basins, and 18 basin states for total catch and for the 7 most important commercial species. Because seasonal flooding, temperature, and floodplain development are the major environmental factors influencing the abundance of fishes in floodplain rivers elsewhere in the world, we examined the relationship between yield and (1) average monthly water temperature, (2) maximum river stage, days above floodstage, day‐feet above floodstage, and the Palmer Drought Index as indices of flooding, and (3) the acreage of bottomland hardwoods. No evidence of the influence of seasonal flooding on fish abundance was found, but some evidence for the influence of bottomland hardwood acreage (maximum flooded area) was found. The catch per unit effort per hectare of bottomland hardwoods increased from south to north. Water temperatures during spring and winter were inversely related to the catch of several species. A multiple regression model to predict annual variation was developed. The fishery of the whole basin fluctuated by 25% during the period studied, presently being fished at near‐optimum annual levels of effort (about 11,000‐12,000 fishermen), and catch (30,000 metric tons). Estimates of optimum annual levels of effort (7,000‐8,000 fishermen) and catch (11,000 metric tons) also were made for the lower Mississippi River basin fishery.