Another commercial species which seems to have been adversely 

 affected by dams is the yellow sand-shell (Lampsilis anodontoides a } 

 Smith (1899) listed this mussel as the second most important commercial 

 species and "sand shells" were being taken from the river in significant 

 quantities in the early 1900's (Townsend, 1902: 707). While Coker found 

 good-sized beds of yellow sand-shells in Keokuk "Lake" in 1926, Ellis 

 surveyed the same sites in 1931 and found no live yellow sand-shells 

 and that the beds were covered with silt and "foul-smelling mud" (1931: 

 8). Ellis, as previously noted, found that the yellow sand-shell was 

 readily killed by silt deposition (1936: 40). The known host fish for 

 the yellow sand-shell is the long-nosed gar (Lepisosteus osgeus) (Coker 

 et al., 1921: 152; Baker, 1928, as seen in Parmalee, 1967: 101). 

 Populations of this fish in the study reach of the river appear to be 

 stable (see the section on the commercial fishery) . 



Economic Factors. In contrast with the mussel industry on the 

 Illinois River, pearl-hunting never assumed financial importance on 

 the Mississippi River (Nord, 1967: 191) and little is on record con- 

 cerning this aspect of the industry. The value of the 1899 Illinois 

 fishermen's catch from the Mississippi River of $43,468 ($314,926 in 

 1977 dollars) includes $1,425 ($10,324 in 1977 dollars) worth'of 

 pearls (Townsend, 1902: 683). In 1922 pearls and slugs accounted for 

 $1,370 ($5,351 in 1977 dollars) of the $11,436 ($44,669 in 1977 dollars) 

 value of the Illinois mussel catch from the Mississippi River (Sette 

 1925: 226). 



By 1899 there were 322 Illinois mussel fishermen working the Missis- 

 sippi using $2,144 ($15,533 in 1977 dollars) worth of crowfoot lines, 

 rakes, and other mussel fishing equipment (Townsend, 1902: 679, 680). 

 This work force of 322 accounts for approximately 13 percent of the 2,389 

 people employed statewide in fishing that year and for 28 percent of the 

 Illinois fishermen working the Mississippi River (Townsend, 1902: 678). 

 In addition, the button-blank factories of Illinois employed 293 people 

 in 1899 (Townsend, 1902: 678). Prices paid for shells in 1899 ranged 

 from $8-10 ($58-72 in 1977 dollars) per ton. It is obvious that mussel 

 fishing on the Mississippi River during this period was economically viable. 



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