harvest fell from 1.9 million pounds in 1894 to 585,000 pounds in 1922. 

 Following construction of the navigation system, the annual buffalo 

 harvest averaged about 1 million pounds and about one-third of the 

 total catch. Carp : buffalo ratios for selected years are given 

 above. 



Catfish and bullheads: Catfish and bullheads ( Ictalurus spp.) to- 

 talling 806,000 pounds constituted 20 percent of the harvest in 1894. 

 From 1899-1970, catches of this group fluctuated between 300,000- 

 600,000 pounds annually. Catfish and bullheads composed 10-20 per- 

 cent of the catch during this period with no apparent trends. 



Freshwater drum: Catches of freshwater drum ( Aplodinotus grunniens ) 

 were 294,000 pounds in 1922 and 366,000 pounds in 1950. Pre-con- 

 struction data indicated a downward trend in the harvest of this species 

 from 1894 to 1931. The post-construction catches from 1950 to 1970 

 averaged 443,000 pounds annually. No trends were apparent during this 

 latter period. 



Other fish: At various times in the past, sport fishermen would 

 lobby to have fishing regulations established which prohibited commer- 

 cial fishermen from taking game species. A blank in Tables 10-18 

 could mean either that less than 100 lbs. of a particular species was 

 taken that year, or that commercial fishermen were prohibited from 

 taking the species. Whenever possible, we have tried to separate 

 the effects of changes in regulations from the effects of changes in 

 fish populations, in determining the reasons for fluctuations in com- 

 mercial harvests. 



Northern pike ( Esox lucius ) harvests of 9,700 and 5,500 pounds 

 were reported in 1894 and 1899, respectively. No pike were reported 

 in the 1922-1970 period. Pike probably were always more common in the 

 northern parts of the upper Mississippi River and the Illinois River 

 than in the project area. In addition, commercial fishermen were pro- 

 hibited from taking pike in the later years. 



A composite poundage for white bass (Morone chrysops ) , yellow bass 

 ( Morone mississippiensis ) , and rock bass ( Ambloplites rupestris ) showed 



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