THE RECLAMATION OF INDIAN AND ABRAMS CREEKS 

 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK 



The restoration of productive sport fish- 

 eries in lakes and ponds through the chemical 

 control of undesirable fishes is an accepted and 

 valuable practice in fishery management. The 

 development of equipment and techniques has 

 progressed to the point where a wide variety of 

 standing waters can be effectively reclaimed. 

 The many successes which have been achieved 

 in warm water and cold water lakes have 

 prompted fishery biologists to consider the 

 reclamation of streams with toxicants. 



There is no doubt that sport fisheries 

 could be established or improved in a large num- 

 ber of streams if rough and competitive fishes 

 were controlled or eliminated. Populations of 

 rainbow trout were improved in streams of the 

 Russian River drainage in California by the 

 reduction of rough fish with rotenone (Pintler 

 and Johnson, 1958). The natural and man-made 

 barriers which exist on many potentially produc- 

 tive streams would inhibit the future ingress of 

 undesirable fish and would thereby enhance the 

 reclamation opportunities. The benefits to 

 sport fishing from the reclamation of streams 

 can be very great once the techniques for treat- 

 ing a wide variety of running waters are devel- 

 oped. 



There are important problems involved 

 in the reclamation of running water . A lethal 

 concentration of toxicant must be maintained 

 over miles of stream despite factors of stretch- 

 out and dilution. The fish at any given point in 

 a stream must be exposed to the toxicant for an 

 effective length of time in order to obtain a kill . 

 These problems are complicated by the variable 

 rates of stream discharge and velocity, by the 

 temperature of the water, and by the greatly 

 divergent susceptibilities of various species of 

 fish to a toxicant at a given concentration and 

 period of exposure . Consequently, the dimen- 

 sions of a bolt of toxicant moving down a stream 

 have to be carefully prescribed. 



An investigation was made in Great 

 Smoky Mountains National Park in 1957 and 1958 

 on the factors and their interrelationships which 

 influence both the concentration of a fish toxicant 

 and the duration of exposure in streams . The 

 reclamation of Indian Creek was undertaken in 

 May 1957 to determine the mechanics of treating 

 a soft water, mountain stream with rotenone and 

 to test the possibility of re-establishing a popu- 

 lation of eastern brook trout . A short time later 

 46 species of game, rough, and exotic fishes 

 were eliminated from a 14. 6 -mile section of 

 Abrams Creek in an effort to establish a rainbow 

 trout fishery. 



Indian and Abrams creeks are two of the 

 many trout streams in the park, all of which 

 drain into the Tennessee River system. Fair to 

 excellent populations of wild rainbow trout occur 

 in most of the streams and they sustain most of 

 the fishing pressure. The native, eastern brook 

 trout was once abundant but it is now restricted 

 to the headwaters of certain streams. Brown 

 trout, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass 

 exist in relatively small numbers in the lower 

 courses of some streams. To date, 71 species 

 of fish have been identified in the park but the 

 distribution of many of them is restricted by the 

 numerous barrier falls . Some of these species 

 are undesirable exotics which have migrated in 

 from new impoundments on the Little Tennessee 

 River. In time it may be desirable to control 

 the populations of certain exotic species to pre- 

 serve or improve the sport fisheries . 



PRELIMINARY TRIALS 



A liquid preparation of rotenone, marketed 

 as Pro-noxfish, was the toxicant selected for the 

 reclamation of Indian and Abrams creeks. Com- 

 position by weight was 2.5 percent rotenone, 5.0 

 percent other cube extractives, and 2.5 percent 

 sulfoxide. The sulfoxide has a synergistic effect 

 on rotenone and this formula is designed to be as 



