I 



The Illinois River commercial fishery is confined to the Ottawa -Grafton sec- 

 tion of the river. Above Ottawa, pollution nnakes the fish unfit for commercial use. 

 Between La Salle and Ottawa, in the Starved Rock Pool, the reported catch was 

 10,315 pounds, worth $705.52, tables 6 and 7. In the Peoria Pool, between Peoria 

 and La Salle, the reported yield was 2,790,765 pounds, worth $ 1 05,668.96, These 

 differences in yields betweenthe PeoriaPool, StarvedRock Pool, and the river above 

 Ottawa demonstrate one of the economic effects that pollution has on the river. Be- 

 cause of better water conditions in the Peoria Pool, 46 persons in 1950 were reported 

 able to earn their entire living by fishing and 44 others part of their earnings, where- 

 as, above Ottawa, no income was reported from river fishing. The total yield from 

 the Illinois River in 1950 was reported as 5,617,927 pounds, worth$ 335,548.69. Carp 

 comprised 70.2 per cent of this catch. The bullhead fishery of the state is now limit- 

 ed largely to the Peoria and La Grange pools of the Illinois River. Illinois River 

 fishermen reported that their investment in tackle and equipment was $ 395,967.00, 

 table 8. 



Illinois professional commercial fishermen are reported to have caught 

 2,788,073 pounds of fishfrom the Mississippi River in 1950, table 9. This catch was 

 calculated as worth $297,045.23, table 10. Buffalofishes outranked carp in poundage 

 and value. The reported catfish catch of 396,908 pounds from the Mississippi was ^^ 

 worth $93,462.70. Mississippi River fishermen from Illinois reported that in 1950 

 they had $ 274,367.00 invested in tackle and equipment, table 11. The highest com- 

 mercial yields in the Illinois section of the Mississippi River were from navigation 

 pools 19 (Keokuk Pool) and 26 (Alton Pool). In the past decade commercial fishing 

 in the Mississippi has declined in the Alton-Cairo section because of pollution. 



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