harvest data for the upper Mississippi River. By 1886, however, the 

 commercial harvest by Iowa fishermen was of some magnitude, as described 

 in the following account by Aldrich (1886: 10): 



Up to within a few years, the annual catch of fish from 

 the Iowa side of the Mississippi, and from the waters of 

 the lakes and rivers in the interior of the state, is es- 

 timated to have been not less than 4,000,000 pounds! Of 

 this vast quantity of fish, at least 2,000,000 pounds 

 were taken at the mouths of Iowa rivers emptying into the 

 Mississippi and Missouri. 



Illinois fishermen reported similar success in the late part of 

 the nineteenth century, with the total annual harvest averaging about 

 4 million pounds between 1894-1899 (Tables 12-13). The 1906-1908 Report 

 of the Illinois Fish Commissioners (Cohen et al. , 1908: 18) stated that: 



It is encouraging to conclude, for a comparison of avail- 

 able statistics, that we have no reason to believe that the 

 general fishery product of our rivers . . . /has declined/ 

 either in value or amount . . . between 1896 and 1901. 



As will be discussed in detail later, the magnitude of the upper 

 Mississippi River commercial fishery, in both poundage and monetary 

 value, has not changed significantly over the past eighty years, but 

 the species composition has changed. 



Pre- and Post-Construction Statistics on Harvests and Number of 

 Fishermen, 1894-1970 . Tables 12-20 show the commercial harvest of fish 

 from the upper Mississippi River by Illinois fishermen in the pre- 

 construction years of 1894, 1899, 1922, and 1931 and in the post-con- 

 struction years of 1950, 1955, i960, 1965, and 1970. The data indicate 

 a somewhat stable total catch throughout the period of 3-4 million pounds. 

 A maximum harvest of 4.3 million pounds was reported in 1899, with a 

 minimum of 1.3 million pounds in 1931. 



Although it might seem reasonable to compare the total harvest and 

 market value of commercial fish in 1931 and 1950, the nearest pre- and 



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