a steady decline from 45,000 pounds in 1894 to only 100 pounds in 1931. 

 None of these species were reported in the post-construction years, 1950- 

 1970, when regulations prohibited commercial fishermen from taking 

 these fish. 



Commercial harvest of sunfish ( Lepomis spp.) and black bass 

 ( Micropterus spp.) was similarly prohibited in the post-construction 

 years. 



Crappie ( Pomoxis spp.) harvests of 20,000, 50,000, and 16,000 

 pounds were reported in 1894, 1899, and 1922, respectively. Regulations 

 prohibited taking of crappie commercially until the 1950' s, when Tables 15 

 and 16 show 10,000 and 29,000 pounds were caught in 1955 and 1960 re- 

 spectively. Commercial harvest of crappie has been prohibited again in 

 more recent years. 



Yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) and walleye ( Stizostedion vitreum ) 

 constituted a small percentage of the total harvest from 1894-1922. Regu- 

 lations prohibit the commercial harvest of walleye. Yellow perch have 

 probably been eliminated due to habitat changes, but were never very 

 abundant in the study area because they have a northern distribution. 



Recent Trends in the Commercial Fishery . To determine post-construc- 

 tion trends in the upper Mississippi River commercial fishery, two sets 

 of data (Starrett, unpublished and UMRCC, 1954-1976) for the period 1950- 

 1976 were examined. Starrett compiled total harvest records from a 

 pooled section of the river (pools 12-26) and an unpooled section (E-26, 

 Alton to Cairo, Illinois) between 1950 and 1970 (Table 22).. Also in- 

 cluded in the unpublished files of this investigator's data were the 

 numbers of full-time and part-time Illinois commercial fishermen en- 

 gaged on the upper Mississippi River, 1950-1970 (Table 23). Data com- 

 piled by the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee (UMRCC) 

 from 1953 to 1976 provided harvest records of carp, buffalo, channel 

 catfish, freshwater drum, and all commercial species for individual 

 pools 24, 25, and 26 (Tables 24-26). 



Table 22 shows that, with the exception of the catches in 1951 and 

 1952, pools 12-26 consistently yielded 2-4 million pounds of fish from 

 1950 to 1970. The catch from the unpooled section, however, fluctuated 



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