PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL, INQUIRIES, 19 3 577 



Two reports based on these investigations have been prepared. 

 One appeared in 1928, and the other, The Natural History of the 

 Bay Scallop, went to press in 1930. 



rOLLUTICN OF STREAMS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 



At the request of the Department of Conservation and Develop- 

 ment of North Carolina, Dr. J. S. Gutsell in 1930 undertook an in- 

 vestigation of the elt'ect of wastes from factories at Sylva, N. C, 

 upon the fish of the Tuckaseegee River. Tlie factories located at 

 Sylva consist of a tannery; a i)lant for the manufacture of commer- 

 cial tannery extract; and a plant for the manufacture, by means of 

 the semichemical pulping process, of paper board. The wastes are 

 discharged iuto Scotts Creek about 2 miles from its entrance into 

 the Tuckaseegee River. Most of the complaint for destroying bass 

 fishing is against the paper-board waste wdiich blackens the river to 

 its mouth some 35 miles below. 



Experiments were made with fish in various dilutions of the wastes 

 from the different plants. Fish were also placed in wire cages in 

 Scotts Creek and the Tuckaseegee River above pollution and for as 

 much as 19 miles below, and a study of the fish and bottom fauna 

 above and below the point of entrance of pollution was made. The 

 paper-board waste had no definite lethal effect in 10 per cent concen- 

 tration upon the fish in diluted wastes. The discharge from the ex- 

 tract plant ordinarily was almost without effect even in high con- 

 centration and with its small volume is not an important factor. 

 The tannery waste w^as lethal to trout down to 5 per cent concentra- 

 tion. However, this is a much higher concentration than occurred 

 in the Tuckaseegee River at its lowest stage during August or Sep- 

 tember, 1930. Cage experiments revealed no definite lethal action 

 of the pollution of the Tuckaseegee River on trout or bass. In gen- 

 eral, fish were found as abundant in the polluted section as above it, 

 although suckers and darters were scarce in the river from Scotts 

 Creek 20 miles downstream or as far as the river was examined 

 for fish. 



Aside from appearances the greatest discovered effect of the pollu- 

 tion was on the bottom fauna. In particular stone flies and May 

 flies were scarce in the polluted section. The effect on the bottom 

 fauna is attributable to the deposition of organic matter from the 

 paper-board w^aste. 



There are complaints that harmful substances occasionally are 

 discharged by the plants at Sylva in much greater amounts than 

 ordinarily and that many fish are killed thereby. Although this 

 was not disproved, no direct evidence of it was found and no definite 

 report obtained of such an occurrence in recent years. 



The investigation revealed no evidence that the wastes from any 

 of the Sylva plants is directly injurious to fish in the Tuckaseegee 

 River. Most fish, including bass, were found as numerous below the 

 entrance of pollution as above it. The only locally esteemed fish 

 which nuist be excepted is the red horse sucker. However, the dep- 

 osition of the organic matter from the paper-board waste adversely 

 affects the bottom fauna and so stands in the way of full possible 

 improvement, as from stocking. This same waste, by its discolora- 

 tion of the water, makes angling unattractive and discourages stock- 



