EFFECTS OF TURBIDITY ON FISH AND FISHING 

 D. Homer Buck 



INTRODUCTION 



The role of soP srosion in land management has been well documented= 

 Its influence on the productivity of our inland waters has received relatively 

 little attentionc While it is widely recognized that turbidities caused by 

 erosion silt are generally harmful to the aquatic community, little quantita- 

 tive data exists as to its effects on fish growth and reproduction, basic 

 food production, and fishing successo The purpose of this investigation has 

 been to categorize and measure some of the influences of erosion silt on 

 fish and fishing in ponds and reservoirs of Oklahoma, 



Various phases of the turbidity problem have received previous at- 

 tention in Oklahoma o Irwin (1945-1948), and Irwin and Stevenson (1951) 

 described the nature and cause of turbidities in central Oklahoma and 

 presented methods for clarification of turbid waters, Wallen (1951) studied 

 the direct effects of clay turbidities on fishes in terms of lethal concen- 

 trations and concluded that the direct effect of clay turbidity is not a 

 lethal factor at concentrations found in Nature » In a study of the effects 

 of turbidity on bottom fauna, Hambric (1953) found that clear ponds pro- 

 duced greater numbers of bottom organisms but that volumes in turbid ponds 

 were often greater due to an abundance of the large naiads of a species of 

 mayfly, Hexagenia limbata p Moore (1944, 1951) has studied the rather re- 

 markable adaptations of certain minnows for survival in muddy waters of the 



