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Production Dynamics of Smallmouth Bass in a Small Minnesota Stream
Author(s) -
Waters Thomas F.,
Kaehler John P.,
Polomis Taylor J.,
Kwak Thomas J.
Publication year - 1993
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(1993)122<0588:pdosbi>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - micropterus , bass (fish) , trout , fishery , hectare , streams , productivity , biology , environmental science , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , computer network , macroeconomics , computer science , economics , agriculture
Annual production by smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu in Bear Creek, Minnesota, was 43.8 and 24.1 kg wet weight per hectare in 1985–1986 and 1987–1988, respectively. Corresponding annual production/biomass ratios were 1.6 and 0.9. Densities and standing stocks changed little between years. Twenty‐five additional fish species were present in Bear Creek. Age‐0 smallmouth bass (shorter than 11 cm total length) fed most heavily on corixids, whereas older, larger fish fed most heavily on other fishes. Annual production by smallmouth bass was much lower than trout production in similarly fertile streams in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This lower production may be attributable to the many more coexisting fishes with which the smallmouth bass must share the food resources of its habitat. More‐restrictive creel regulations may be needed for smallmouth bass than for trout, even in streams of similar basic productivity.