146 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
rank among fishes taken from the Mississippi in Iowa. From computations based 
on the report of Townsend (1902), it constituted 5.1 per cent of the fish from the 
Mississippi River and tributaries in 1901 and 1.5 per cent of the fish taken in the whole 
of Iowa, standing eighth among Iowa fishes. From computations based upon the 
report of the United States Bureau of the Census (1911) it constituted 2 per cent of 
fishes from the Mississippi River and tributaries and 0.2 per cent of fishes taken in 
the whole of Iowa in 1908, rating fifteenth among Iowa fishes; but this report shows 
that the Iowa paddlefish were all taken in the Missouri River district. 
Unfortunately, statistical figures regarding the paddlefish (prior to 1914) can 
not be regarded as accurate or complete because of the extent to which the fish, 
especially from northern waters, has been marketed under a false name. Neither 
Minnesota nor Wisconsin, for example, are credited in the census report for 1908 
with the production of paddlefish, although paddlefish undoubtedly were being 
marketed then from Lake Pepin under the name of “shovelnose sturgeon.” 
In Table 1 comparison is made between the reported catches of paddlefish in 
1899 (Townsend, 1902) and 1908 (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1911), respectively, by 
States, arranged in the order of the size of the catch, in pounds, in 1899, and also be- 
tween the reported catches of 1908 and 1922. 
Table 1 . — Paddlefish product in 1899, 1908, and 1922, by States 1 
State 
Catch 
Increase or decrease, 
1908 compared with 
1899 
Catch, 1922 
Increase or decrease, 
1922 compared with 
1908 
1899 
1908 
Decrease 
Increase 
Decrease 
Increase 
Pounds 
948, 305 
651, 405 
211, 185 
195, 174 
190, 931 
147, 260 
132, 200 
36, 390 
34, 125 
16, 375 
7, 850 
2,050 
0 
0 
Pounds 
463, 000 
71.000 
195, 000 
402. 000 
128. 000 
65. 000 
132, 000 
6, 900 
0 
20. 000 
1,500 
0 
32,000 
1,600 
Per cent 
51 
87 
8 
Per cent 
Pounds 
352, 260 
338, 612 
54, 015 
101, 700 
36, 850 
15, 015 
422, 478 
48, 930 
1,500 
10, 800 
Per cent 
20 
Per cent 
79 
77 
75 
70 
77 
2 106 
33 
56 
0 
81 
100 
0 
69 
86 
0 
22 
45 
100 
100 
18 
100 
81 
100 
100 
100 
26, 310 
550 
29, 471 
0 
0 
2, 473, 250 
1, 518, 000 
39 
1, 438, 491 
i Roe sold separately for caviar not included. In 1922 the amounts of caviar were: Mississippi, 1,563 pounds; Arkansas, 4,077; 
Tennessee, 200; Kentucky, 150; Louisiana, 5,908; Texas, 500. 
1 Great increase in all Illinois River fisheries occurred between 1899 and 1908 due to increased volume of river after construction 
of Chicago drainage canal, 
s No report for 1908. 
« The lack of report for Minnesota for all years is not understood. Possibly the paddlefish were included with other fish, such 
as shovelnose sturgeon or catfish. Paddlefish have been regularly taken on the Minnesota side of Lake Pepin for many years. 
After all reasonable allowance for inaccuracies, the substantial decline of the 
paddlefish fishery throughout the region of report remains evident. The decline 
between 1899 and 1908 would have been even more notable but for the great increase 
in fish from Illinois, due in large measure to the exceptionally active and successful 
fisheries that were prosecuted on the Illinois River in the years immediately preced- 
ing and following 1908. Notable increases in 1922 are found only for Arkansas, 
Louisiana, and Iowa. 
