Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

A total of 816 American shad (Alosa sapidissima), 2,823 blueback herring (A. aestivalis), and 79 alewives (A. pseudoharengus) was collected between July and November 1963-1965 to determine distribution, food habits, and growth in the Cape Fear River system, North Carolina. Shad and blueback herring were found in the Cape Fear River from four miles south of Wilmington (20 miles from the mouth) to Lock No.3, a distance of 99 miles, and in the Black River from the mouth to NC-411 bridge, a distance of 35 miles. In the North East Cape Fear River, shad were distributed from the mouth to NC-24 bridge, a distance of 67 miles, whereas blueback herring were distributed from the river mouth to five miles north of NC-53 bridge, a distance of 44 miles. Alewives were collected in a seven-mile stretch of the Cape Fear River, from four miles south of Wilmington to three miles north of Wilmington and in the North East Cape Fear River from the mouth to Lanes Ferry, a distance of 25 miles.

Since information on the biology of the Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, of the Gulf coast of the United States is almost nonexistent, a study was initiated in February, 1966. Adult shad were collected on their spawning run in the Apalachicola River system, Florida, from February to April. Interpretation of the scale structure indicated that four age classes were represented. A few one-year-old males (average 10.6 inches TL) were in evidence in the latter part of the run. The two-year class consisted mostly of males (average 13.4 inches TL), and small numbers of females (average 14.5 inches TL). Three-year-old fish were most abundant; males (average 14.4 inches TL) and females (average 15.3 inches TL) were found in equal numbers. Small numbers of four-year-oIds were taken; most were females (average 16.1 inches TL) and a few were males (average 15.1 inches TL). No specimens more than four years old were collected.

Fishermen were interviewed as they fished for catfish and largemouth bass in pond S-1 (22 acres) and pond S-7 (2.5 acres) of the Auburn University Fisheries Research Unit to determine selected expenditures per trip. From September 15 to December 5, 1965 and from March 16 to June 16, 1966, 13,528 people fished, of which 1,434 were interviewed. In addition to the $1.00 pond permit fee, fishermen spent $1.25 per trip for travel and $0.89 per trip for bait and equipment. Average round trip distance traveled per fisherman was 34.5 miles. The individual average expenditure per trip was not related to day of the week. Total expenditures were estimated to have been $42,628 for 150 days of fishing. Permit cost was $13,528; bait cost, $6,872; equipment, $5,297 and travel expense, $16,931. The gross expenditure was $1,740 per surface acre of water.

While all four fish food organisms (damselfly nymphs, dragonfly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, and caddisfly larvae) were killed by various rotenone concentrations, dragonfly nymphs had the greatest resistance and caddisfly larvae the least. Concentrations of rotenone currently being used in fish eradication would not effect the populations of the test organisms except that a very slight reduction in the caddisfly larvae population might result from the higher concentrations that are sometimes used. No change in structure or deterioration of gills before and after rotenoning could be observed by microscopic examination. Survival of all four organisms was excellent under laboratory conditions. Oxygen deficiencies were not a factor in killing test organisms. Mayfly nymphs consumed the greatest amount of oxygen and damselfly nymphs the least. The damselfly nymphs could survive a low oxygen tension without their gills while the other test organisms could not.

Since channel catfish, Ictalwrus punctatus, were being considered as a possible predator for the control of forage fish in Florida lakes, a study of their food habits was conducted. An examination was made of the stomachs of 195 channel catfish collected in Lake Okeechobee, Lake Blue Cypress, and Lake Agnes, with trammel nets. The size range of fish examined was eight to 30 inches in total length. The major food items were insects, crustaceans, and fish. Data is presented according to the frequency of occurrence and number of food items contained in the stomachs. The lengths of channel catfish and the foods eaten are discussed.

Stomach contents of black bullheads (Ictalurus melas) collected from inshore areas of newly impounded Beaver Reservoir by electroshocker revealed distinct differences in diet between periods of relatively stable water levels and rapidly rising water level. During stable water level periods, Entomostraca formed 72 percent of the volume of food of young-of-the-year bullheads (<4 inches, total length). Filamentous algae, organic detritus and crayfish made up 94 percent of the food volume found in 4.0-11.3-inch bullheads collected during these periods. Contrastingly, during winter-spring months when water level rose and inundated basin soils for the first time, bullheads over four inches ate predominantly terrestrial animals (56% by volume). Earthworms comprised 28 percent of the total volume, followed by a wide representation of insects (15 percent), particularly grubs and caterpillars. Slugs, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, pill bugs and a worm snake were recorded.

The food cycle of bluegill and redbreast sunfish was short circuited by direct feeding of dry pellets in an attempt to increase the productivity of small lakes. Automatic fish feeders were constructed and installed in an experimental lake and were programmed to feed specific amounts of Purina Trout Chow at regular intervals. This paper deals with the construction of the automatic feeder and preliminary observations on the growth rate of bluegill and redbreast sunfish.

Since the introduction of the peacock bass, Cichla sp., into Florida in 1964, several southeastern states have considered introducing it as a new piscivorous game species. Tests show that fingerling peacock bass die at temperatures below 61°F., and, therefore, they would be unsuitable for introduction outside of tropical areas unless overwintered indoors or in heated water. In one pond stocked with 108 peacock bass per acre, tilapia, and fathead minnows, the peacock bass appeared to be a less effective predator than the largemouth bass when stocked under similar conditions. However, growth rates were approximately the same for peacock bass and largemouth bass at the end of a six-month period.

Experiments were conducted in three ponds and nine plastic swimming pools to determine the variation in growth rate of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) during their first year of life. Known-age fish were obtained from artificially stripped and fertilized eggs and from the nest of one pair of largemouth bass. The fry were stocked into pools or ponds. Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were stocked into three ponds and four large plastic pools as brood fish to provide offspring as forage for the bass which were added later. Golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas) were stocked into the ponds after the bass were added. Fathead minnows, mosquito-fish (Gambusia a/finis) and golden shiners were added at intervals in the small pools after the bass were approximately one inch long, and in the large pools to supplement the original stocking of fathead minnows. Samples of approximately 10 bass were taken periodically.

Alabama surveys indicate that the chain pickerel is undesirable because it preyed on harvestable species (1954, Annual Report Farm Ponds Project,. Auburn University, unpublished). An examination of pickerel stomach contents was conducted in South Central Florida to explore possibilities of using pickerel as a desirable predator. Specimens were collected from anglers, trammel nets, and electro-shocking. One hundred fifteen adult pickerel collected from seven lakes, Pierce, Francis, June in Winter, Henry, Kissimmee, Hatchineha, and Walk 'n Water, were examined. The data collected indicate the chain pickerel feed almost entirely on fish and quite heavily on centracrhids, such as bluegills. These data also show that although pickerel will consume harvestable game species, 79.55% of all organisms consumed were not harvestable game fish. Variety of prey, mode of specie consumed, and length frequency of prey to predator are discussed.

In order to determine the distribution and habitat requirements of the redbreast sunfish Lepomis auritus (Linnaeus) in the streams and reservoirs of North Carolina, a more detailed analysis of the data were extrapolated from previous watershed and reservoir survey reports made by personnel of the Wildlife Resources Commission from 1956 to 1966. It was concluded from the study that: (1) Redbreast sunfish inhabit 23 of the 26 major watersheds within the State; (2) Redbreast sunfish inhabit (a) waters reaching elevations up to 3,500 feet, (b) waters having up to eight percent sea-water equivalency, and (c) a pH range between 4.8 and 8.4; and (3) The game-fish species most frequently associated with the redbreast sunfish in the Mountain, Piedmont, and Northeastern watersheds was the bluegill, whereas warmouth, redfin pickerel and/or largemouth bass were most frequently associated in the Southeastern Coastal watersheds.

Striped bass were successfully ovulated in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina some 150 miles from their natural spawning grounds and about one month before their normal spawning time. Brood fish were purchased from commercial fishermen, consequently the eggs so obtained were salvaged out of a sacrificial situation. The fish were collected from pound nets following narcosis by electric shock; the narcosis being maintained by the addition of Quinaldine to the water in the boat holding tank until the female fish had been injected with human chorionic gonadotropin at the egg taking station. During egg maturation, the female striped bass were held individually in glass-fronted aquaria. Whenever a fish was transferred from one aquarium to another, or whenever egg samples needed to be taken, the fish normally were tranquilized by the addition of Quinaldine to the aquarium water before the fish were handled.

Fry striped bass, Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum)" were hatched at the Weldon, North Carolina State Fish Hatchery from eggs obtained from hormone-injected females collected from commercial pound nets in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. The fry were packaged when two and three days old in conventional square (15" x 15" x 22") plastic bags with an oxygen atmosphere and shipped to Arkansas by airplane in insulated containers. Two hundred thousand (200,000) fry were held in each of two 58-gallon aquaria at the Joe Hogan State Fish Hatchery, Lonoke, Arkansas, for six days. Frequently changed, filtered pond water was used. At the end of six days when the fry were eight and nine days old and were swimming horizontally and feeding, they were released into a seven and one-fourth (7.25)-acre nursery pond.

Striped bass, Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum), fingerlings were stocked in five ponds, three sections of a water control canal, and 14 metal troughs. In trough experiments Purina Trout Chow was found not to contain all nutrients needed for rapid growth of fingerling striped bass. Pond experiments indicated that fathead minnows are among the preferred forage species. Mortality among trough-reared fish was 14.7 percent. Over a 16-week period, increases in total length averaged 70.6 mm for fish reared in troughs and 54.9 mm for fish in a fed pond. In ponds stocked with redfin pickerel (Esox americanus americanus Gmelin) and Tilapia sp., increases in total length of striped bass averaged 51.8 mm in 14 weeks. Aquaria tests indicated that tetracycline hydrochloride is effective against columnaris disease at a concentration of 15 ppm for 72 hours. Preliminary results indicate that striped bass can be successfully reared in troughs on dry feeds.

Data are presented on the effects cold water discharge from Hartwell Dam has on a twenty-mile stretch of river between Hartwell and Clark Hill Reservoirs and its influence on the temperature and oxygen concentrations beneath the thermocline in the lower lake. This study revealed that oxygen concentration increased from 0.7 ppm to between 3.2 and 6.7 ppm when the sub-60 degree F. water was taken from a 105-foot depth in Hartwell Lake and discharged into the tailrace during generation periods. This water further increased its oxygen content as it became agitated while moving over shoal areas between the two reservoirs even though the water temperature sometimes reached 80 degrees F. for short periods of time when the river was low following generation shutdown.

A sport fishery for rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) was created in the lower one-third of a 38,000-acre Oligotrophic reservoir. Maximum temperatures of 70° F. and a minimum of 3 p.p.m. oxygen were evaluated as criteria for establishing this "two-story" fishery. Stockings of 8 - 10-inch trout were made in the winter months and weight gains were up to threefold in a six-month period. Food utilized by the trout was primarily the threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense). Movement of the trout did not exceed ten miles from the stocking locations, and a majority was caught within five miles.

Twelve years of trout stream management on the Standing Indian Wildlife Management Area in North Carolina has involved a fixed annual stocking of marked hatchery-reared trout. A complete creel census has been mandatory on the Area streams so that the catch of both stocked and wild trout could be followed. It was concluded from this study that: (1) Wild trout populations deteriorated after two consecutive years of 40 trips per acre per year; (2) Hatchery-reared trout provided only a buffer to the destructive harvest of wild trout up to a point, then when the wild trout have been depleted the hatchery fish became dominant in the harvest; (3) Up to that point, harvest of wild trout, not the harvest of the stocked trout, upheld the trout fishery; and (4) Increased fishing pressure resulted in decreased average catch and catch per hour, whereas, decreased pressure resulted in higher average catches.

Fontana Reservoir, located in the mountains of western North Carolina, covers 10,670 surface acres at full pool elevation of 1,710 feet. The reservoir is approximately 29 miles long, has 248 miles of shoreline, a maximum depth of 440 feet, and three influent rivers, the Nantahala, Little Tennessee, and Tuckaseigee. Temperature and chemical profiles were taken monthly from June 1964 through December 1965 at five permanent sampling stations.

Distribution and abundance of eight centrarchid fishes were studied on Delta National Wildlife Refuge from August, 1963 through January, 1965. Gear used to collect the fish included rotenone, gill nets, trammel nets, bag seine, minnow seine and electric shocker. Standing crop samples were conducted using rotenone and block-off nets. Salinity was a major factor which limited distribution of centrarchids on the refuge. Pond depth and turbidity were also factors affecting distribution and abundance. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, pH and alkalinity were found to be within suitable levels for fishes during sampling periods. Spotted sunfish had the most diversified distribution of any centrarchid. Largemouth bass preferred the clearer, deeper waters. Warmouth occurred in more turbid waters than other centrarchids. Centrarchids averaged 32.79 per cent of the total standing crop of fishes in area 1, 23.54 per cent in area 2 and 4.44 per cent in area 3.

Data obtained from 28,454 Wildlife Protector interviews during the course of routine license and creel checks between April 1, 1964 and March 31, 1965 supported the following estimates respecting the "rodand-reel" sport fishery in the Inland Waters of North Carolina: Respecting Angler Numbers: Licensed - 404,878 (53%) Unlicensed-357,335 (47%) Respecting Choice of Gear: By licensed anglers: cane pole 32%; casting rod 49%; fly rod 9% By unlicensed anglers: cane pole 64%; casting rod 26%; fly rod 4% All anglers: cane pole 47%; casting rod 38%; fly rod 7% Respecting Choice of Baits: By licensed anglers: natural 63%; artificial 22% By unlicensed anglers: natural 98%; artificial 1% By all anglers: natural 80%; artificial 12% (Balance indicates both baits used on same trip) Respecting Catches: The percentage of the estimated Statewide harvest from Inland Waters by "rod-and-reel": sunfishes 44.0%; crappie 19.1%; white perch 12.6%; catfishes 10.0%; largemouth bass 3.6%;

A non-uniform probability creel survey was conducted in conjunction with a stratified two-hour survey. The methods of each survey are described. Analysis of results in terms of fishing pressure showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two surveys, but the non-uniform probability survey proved to be 38 percent more efficient.

Samples of the following 14 genera of algae were collected from various geographical or geological areas during the period from April to November 1965 and subjected to mineral determinations; Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Chara, Cladophora, Euglena, Hydrodictyon, Lyngbya, Micro cystis, Mougeotia, NiteUa, Oedogonium, Pithophora, Rhizoclonium, and Spirogyra. There was considerable variation in the levels of most elements, both within and between genera. Phytoplankton algae had low metal ion contents and high carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous concentrations. Nonplankton algae generally contained more metallic ions and less carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous.