CONCLUSIONS 



1 . The reclamation of streams with rotenone 

 is feasible and practical. Forty-six species of 

 game and rough fishes were removed from Indian 

 and Abrams Creeks in 1957. 



2. The salt -resistivity technique was em- 

 ployed successfully to estimate the stretch-out, 

 dilution, and velocity of a toxicant moving down- 

 stream . 



3. A sufficient duration of exposure to rote- 

 none is as necessary as an adequate concentra- 

 tion of the toxicant to kill fish in running water . 

 In Indian Greek a concentration of 1 ppm of 

 toxicant maintained for 1 hour was sufficient at 

 59° F. to kill trout and dace. In Abrams Creek 

 the presence of carp necessitated that a con- 

 centration of 1 ppm be maintained in an uninter- 

 rupted bolt for 6 hours at 66° to 71° . 



4. Streamside toxicity tests demonstrated 

 that goldfish in streams would be very difficult 

 to kill with rotenone. 



5. Reclamation projects on streams should 

 be scheduled before or well after the spawning 

 and hatching periods of undesirable fishes . Also, 

 every advantage should be taken of low water 

 levels and high water temperatures to increase 

 the effectiveness of the operations and to reduce 

 the costs of the toxicant and manpower. Streams 

 in the Smokies, for example, should be re - 

 claimed in the late summer or early fall. 



6. It is important to select streams for 

 reclamation which have natural or man-made 

 barriers to fish migration to prevent reinfesta- 

 tion by undersirable species . The considerable 

 investment necessary to reclaim and restock a 

 stream may provide only very temporary 

 benefits unless such barriers exist. 



7. The stocking of fingerling-size brook 

 trout and rainbow trout of selected strains in 

 Indian and Abrams Creeks respectively, was 

 successful. Survival and growth were good and 

 most of the fish were of legal size (7 inches) 

 during the 1958 fishing season. The brook 

 trout were cropped so heavily that few survived 

 to spawn in the fall. The rainbow trout on the 

 other hand spawned abundantly in the spring 



before the fishing season. The hatch and sur- 

 vival of this species in Abrams Creek has been 

 so good that further stocking has been postponed. 



SUMMARY 



A 7. 5 -mile section of the Indian Creek 

 watershed in Great Smoky Mountains National 

 Park was treated with rotenone in April and May 

 1957. Extensive, preliminary observations were 

 made on the stretch-out, dilution, and velocity of 

 a toxicant in running water by means of the salt- 

 resistivity technique. Streamside toxicity trials 

 with rotenone indicated that a 1 ppm concentra- 

 tion of Pro-noxfish maintained for 1 hour would 

 be sufficient to kill rainbow trout, brook trout, 

 and longnose dace at water temperatures close 

 to 60° F. All fish in the stream with the excep- 

 tion of some trout fry and dace fry were killed. 



Indian Greek was restocked with finger- 

 ling-size, Appalachian -strain brook trout in 

 June 1957 with good results. Most of the fish 

 that survived the winter reached legal size in 

 1958 and were heavily cropped by anglers. 

 There is good reason to believe that the native - 

 strain brook trout will become established in 

 Indian Creek and afford better fishing than rain- 

 bow trout did. A barrier falls near the mouth 

 of the stream prevents the migration of rough 

 fishes into the reclaimed waters . 



A 14. 6 -mile section of Abrams Creek 

 and its tributaries below Abrams Falls were 

 treated with Pro-noxfish in June 1957. Toxicity 

 trials in streamside troughs indicated that a 1- 

 ppm concentration of toxicant would have to be 

 maintained in a continuous bolt for 6 hours at 

 temperatures of 66° to 71° F. to kill carp and 

 other resistant species. Forty-six species 

 were killed and no survivors were found during 

 the summer and fall . 



Abrams was stocked with 2,400 legal- 

 size rainbow trout in June and July to furnish 

 fishing for guests at Abrams Campground. Over 

 30,000 fingerling-size rainbow trout were stocked 

 in the fall. They survived well and grew rapidly. 

 Many of them spawned during the following March 

 and an abundant hatch occurred in April . Further 

 stocking has been unnecessary. Fishing was 

 excellent during the 1958 season . 



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