Efficiency and Selectivity of Commercial Fishing Devices Used on the Mississippi River

Abstract

IN 1944 and 1946, a fishery survey was made of the Mississippi River between Caruthersville, Missouri, and Dubuque, Iowa, under the auspices of the Technical Committee for Fisheries, a subgroup of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee. Collections of fish were made with various types of fishing devices at 31 field stations. Based largely on these collections, a report relative to the status of commercial and sport fishing in the Caruthersville-Dubuque section of the river was written and published (Barnickol & Starrett 1951). The present paper is a statistical analysis of the catch data relative to the efficiency and selectivity of the various commercial fishing devices used during the survey. It is believed that such an analysis could be of value to persons interested in the management of the river's commercial fishery. At the present time, law enforcement is the chief form of fish management practiced in the Caruthersville-Dubuque section of the river. The fishery survey was financed by the Illinois Department of Conservation, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Iowa Conservation Commission, and the Missouri Conservation Commission. The Illinois Natural History Survey's laboratory boat, the Anax, was used as field headquarters.