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Relative Contribution of Stocked Walleyes in Tennessee Reservoirs
Author(s) -
Vandergoot Christopher S.,
Bettoli Phillip W.
Publication year - 2003
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/m02-090
Subject(s) - fishery , biology
Since the mid‐1950s, fisheries biologists with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency have stocked walleyes Stizostedion vitreum in several tributary reservoirs of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers to augment declining native stocks; however, the efficacy of these management actions has never been formally evaluated. The contribution of stocked walleyes in four Tennessee reservoirs was evaluated during 1999 and 2000 by marking fry and fingerlings through oxytetracycline (OTC) immersion. Stocking densities were 13‐48 fingerlings/ha, and marking efficacy was high for fish marked as fry (mean = 98%; SE = 1.7%) and fingerlings (mean = 99%; SE = 0.6%). Nearly all (94‐100%; N = 509) of the age‐1 and age‐2 walleyes collected in the four reservoirs were OTC‐marked. Based on these findings, fingerling walleyes must be stocked annually to sustain the walleye populations in these tributary impoundments.