between 9,900 and 269,000 pounds during this period. Note that although 

 the pooled section represented more river mileage (380 miles) than the 

 unpooled section (203 miles), harvest from the unpooled section was 

 disproportionately smaller, with the pooled section comprising 92-99 

 percent of the total catch. The reduced harvest in the lower unpooled 

 section was most likely due to industrial and municipal pollutants 

 entering the river in the St. Louis area (Barnickol and Starrett, 1951: 

 275). Other factors influencing the fishery of the Mississippi River 

 below Lock and Dam 26 were increased turbidity brought about by entrance 

 of the Missouri River and lack of suitable backwaters and sloughs for 

 fish spawning due to extensive levee and drainage systems (Earnickol and 

 Starrett, 1951: 274). Due to these reasons, it is not advisable to 

 use Table 22 for a strict comparison of pooled vs. unpooled harvests, 

 for, indeed, both river sections have been altered by man's activities. 

 The data are presented only to provide a recent history of fish harvest. 



The number of commercial fishermen engaged in the upper Mississippi 

 River fishery steadily declined between 1950 and 1970 (Table 23). There 

 appeared to be a general increase in the total number of fishermen from 

 1950 to 1958, when 350 fishermen were employed. There were only 152 

 fishermen in 1970. The percentage composition of full-time vs. part- 

 time fishermen also changed during the period. Between 1950 and 1960, 

 an average of 41 percent of the total fishermen were reported as full- 

 time. Only 34 percent were engaged full-time in the 1961-1970 period. 



Table 24 shows the harvest of commercial species from -Pool 24 from 

 1953 to 1976. Although the total harvest did not change significantly 

 during the period, as indicated by the five-year averages, the data show 

 increases in the catch of carp and decreases of buffalo and channel 

 catfish. In addition, the ratio of carp catch to that of buffalo in- 

 creased from 1:1 in the 1953-1957 period to 4:1, 1973-1976. Pool 24 

 yielded an average annual harvest of about 260,000 pounds of all com- 

 mercial fish and had an average rank of 16 among the 26 upper Mississippi 

 River navigation pools, 1953-1976. 



Pool 25 produced an annual average of about 383,000 pounds for the 

 24-year period, 1953-1976 (Table 25 ). Carp catch increased twofold 

 during the period, with the annual harvest increasing from 108,000 pounds, 

 1953-1956, to 202,000 pounds, 1973-1976. Buffalo poundage also increased, 



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