(^a«itc*iU 



FIGURES vii 



TABLES X 



ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT xiv 



PREFACE 1 



The River 1 



The Conflict 1 



The Study 5 



Acknowledgments 6 



PART I. TONGUE RIVER FISHERY STUDY 7 



INTRODUCTION 9 



Purpose 9 



Study Area 9 



METHODS 13 



Study Area Delineation 13 



Instream Flow Determination 13 



Sampling and Tagging 14 



Shovelnose Sturgeon 14 



Sauger 15 



Channel Catfish 15 



Age and Growth 15 



Population Estimates 16 



Water Temperature 17 



Impacts of Water Withdrawals 17 



EXISTING SITUATION 19 



Faunal Zonation 19 



Resident Fish Populations 19 



Species Distribution 19 



Population Numbers and Species Composition 21 



Species Diversity 23 



Shovelnose Sturgeon 24 



Fish Size 26 



Population Estimate 34 



Time of Spawning 35 



Habitat Preference 37 



Sampling and Tagging Studies 42 



