climbing from a low of 41,000 pounds in 1954 to 139,000 pounds in 1975. 

 Both channel catfish and freshwater drum harvests decreased equally, with 

 catches of each species declining from about 75,000 pounds per year 

 from 1953-1967 to only 44,000 pounds between 1968 and 1976. Pool 25 had 

 an average ranking of 10th of the 26 pools, 1953-1976. 



Pool 26 harvests and trends resembled those of Pool 25 (Table 26 ) . 

 The pool ranked 11th during the 24-year period, 1953-1976, and had an 

 average annual catch of about 370,000 pounds. As in Pool 25, carp and 

 buffalo harvests increased, while those of channel catfish and fresh- 

 water drum decreased. 



A comparison of all 3 pools (24, 25, and 26) in the study area in- 

 dicated that the total harvest of commercial fish remained relatively 

 constant in the period 1953-1976. However, changes in the species 

 composition were apparent. Carp and buffalo catches increased, while 

 those of channel catfish and freshwater drum decreased. 



Economic Factors Affecting the Commercial Fishery . The magnitude 

 of the commercial fishery at the turn of the century can best be described 

 by the following excerpt from Cohen et al. (1908: 16): 



The river fisheries of Illinois gave employment in 1889 

 to 2,389 men, and utilized a capital of $225,000. Sixteen 

 steamboats, 200 house-boats and 1,500 row-boats were used 

 in these fisheries, together with about 45 miles of seines, 

 10 miles of trammel nets, half a mile of gill-nets, and 

 14,000 fyke-nets, pound-nets and traps. . . . Illinois fur- 

 nishes, indeed, more than one-third of the fishes sent to 

 market from all the streams of the llississippi valley — 

 valued in 1899 at $1,473,000. . . . The Great Lakes fish- 

 eries in Illinois waters are of insignificant proportions. 

 The total longshore product for Cook and Lake Counties was 

 $12,500 — about $2,000 less than the sum derived from our 

 river turtles alone. 



The importance of this tremendous fishery to the economy of river 

 communities from 1890 to 1940 was outlined by Taylor (1951: 402-404, as 

 quoted in Car lander, 1954: 69): 



89 



