Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Several Southeastern states using mail surveys currently apply an estimation procedure to adjust for non-response bias. Efficient planning of these surveys requires an idea of the precision obtainable for a specified number of questionnaires mailed, i.e. an idea of the sample size required. This paper graphically describes the empirical relation between sample size and relative precision of estimates of hunters, effort, and harvest for three game species, deer, turkey and dove. The data were selected from records on hand from six states and over the period from 1964-1969.

In November, 1969, four groups of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), with 20 fish per group were marked and put in cages in an earthen pond at the Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Alabama. Marking methods consisted of four dyes injected and applied with a tattoo machine, two fluorescent pigments and a hot and a cold brand. The fish were sampled weekly for a period of 28 weeks and each mark was evaluated on the basis of mark retention and ease of identification. Blue latex injections, hot brands and cold brands were the most effective marks used in this study.

A survey procedure was developed for judging the relative quality of trout waters and used in surveying streams in National Forests in Georgia, Virginia and South Carolina. The purpose of the survey was to provide land managers with information that would help in making decisions affecting trout streams. The procedure incorporates water quality analysis, fish population sampling, and a comparative evaluation of habitat conditions based on a stream's present and potential capability for producing wild or "native" trout fishing. Drainages surveyed ranged from one to over twenty miles in length.

In an effort to supplement the food of fishes in remote areas lacking power lines and also to short-circuit the natural food chain, an automatic selfcontained DC feeder was designed and built. The paper deals with the construction details of this feeder.

The results from gill nest samples, a series of cove rotenone samples, and a creel census were compared to the total fish population obtained through the drainage of Lake Russell, a 90-acre reservior in Northeast Georgia. An extended period of gill netting yielded the best representation of the various fish species present in the reservoir, but gave a poor estimate of the relative abundance of the fish species. Cove rotenone samples of known acreage gave a good representation of the total weight per acre of the reservoir. The three coves sampled yielded 45.3 pounds per acre, 48.5 pounds per acre, and 73.0 pounds per acre. The three cove samples combined yielded a value of 54.1 pounds per acre. Upon drainage of the reservoir the total weight per acre of all fish was 48.4 pounds per acre. The deepest of the three coves, lacking an abundance of aquatic vegetation, was overestimated in terms of the actual weight per acre.

The large number of meter net samples needed to determine the spawning success of various species of fish in Canton Reservoir, Oklahoma, made subsampling advantageous. The basic Folsom plankton splitter was enlarged and modified so that meter net samples with volumes up,to 4,000 m\\. could be split into IO approximately equal subsamples. The splitter was constructed from a 12 inch diameter Plexiglas2 cylinder. Construction was accomplished using common shop tools. Chi-square tests (0.05 level) showed that there were no significant differences between the observed subsample counts and the expected counts. A nonparametric sign test showed that each chamber did not consistently have higher or lower counts than any other chamber. The minimum total number of organisms per sample that could be subsampled yielding estimates of the total sample number with less than a IO percent error 95 percent of the time were determined for larval gizzard shad and larval Chaoborinae.

Ecological changes in plant communities in several Florida lakes have been noted by biologists in the past, but rarely have the parameters of these communities been documented for future reference. Soil moisture is an important factor in determining which plants will occur at particular elevations, but more important is the inundation tolerance of the various species. The purpose of this study was to compare the long range effects of water level fluctuation on the marsh vegetation of Lake Okeechobee. The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, in 1956, conducted a vegetational analysis of the lake marsh in order to predict the probable results on vegetation from construction of a levee to contain the lake waters. A subsequent analysis of the same area was conducted by Commission personnel in 1969 to determine what vegetational changes had occurred.

Alimentary tracts were examined of 1010 carp collected with gill and trammel nets by commercial fishermen from four riverine reservoirs, and 211 adult and 45 young carp from Lake Carl Blackwell, a headwaters reservoir. The alimentary tract contents of carp in five Oklahoma reservoirs contained algae, plant fragments, seeds, entomostraca, chironomids, Chaoborus, pelecypoqs, caddisflies, Ceratopogonidae, animal fragments, and organic and inorganic matter. Terrestrial insects were of rare occurrence. The major volumetric constituents in the alimentary tracts of carp from the riverine reservoirs Grand, Fort Gibson, Eufaula, and Texoma Reservoirs were: unidentified organic matter (65.5%), animal fragments (12.5%), plant fragments (10.1%), entomostraca (3.8%), algae (1.9%), pupae (1.1%).

Food items were found in 47.0% of 1329 flathead catfish stomachs collected by gill and trammel nets from six Oklahoma reservoirs: Carl Blackwell, Eufaula, Fort Gibson, Grand, Hudson, and Texoma. The average number of food items was 1.6 per stomach and the average volume per stomach was 26.4 ml in stomachs with food. Fish comprised more than 95% of total food volume and total number of food items in all six reservoirs. Gizzard shad contributed from 49.5 to 91.7% of total stomach volumes. Freshwater drum were second in importance as forage, accounting for 3.3 to 38.2% of total volumes. Carp contributed 23.2 and 42.0% of total stomach volumes on lakes Eufaula and Hudson, respectively, but were not found elsewhere. Channel catfish comprised 13.8% of the stomach volume in flatheads from Fort Gibson Reservoir where they were very abundant. All species of centrarchids comprised only 5.4 to 10.0% of total stomach volumes in three reservoirs.

In many reservoirs predation on stocked fish has been considered as one of the major limiting factors in establishing a particular population. Following several years of water quality determinations it was found that Lake Ouachita maintained a sufficiently oxygenated hypolimnion to support trout. As a result several thousand catchable rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, were stocked into the lake. The results of this attempt to establish a trout fishery have been disappointing for a combination of reasons; however, while collectint for brookstock chain pickerel, Esox niger, and from fisherman reports, it became evident that predation on the stocked trout must be very high. Collections of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, and chain pickerel were made with a boom-type electro-shocker during January and February, 1970. Sampling was done at night within an approximate 100-acre area adjacent to a trout stocking point.

Limnological data collected during a four and one-half year period at Lake Sinclair is reviewed. Comparison of temperature and oxygen profiles are made in areas of the lake receiving hot water discharge and in unaffected areas. Hot water discharge was found to increase temperature and dissolved oxygen substantially during both summer and winter. In addition, hot effluent eliminated or altered the thermocline in the affected area. These effects were evident in varying degrees for 2.3 miles below the source. Observations concerning the sport fishery within the area receiving hot water discharge are noted. The possible effects of hot water discharge on the habitat and an aquatic ecosystem is also discussed.

Stomachs from 285 longnose (Lepisosteus osseus) and 603 Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus) were collected from five lakes in central Florida. Ofall stomachs examined, 432 or 49 per cent contained food items. Stomach data grouped from the two species and five lakes indicated that gar in central Florida lakes feed principally on nongame forage fish and do not extensively utilize game fish species. Nongame forage fish comprised 57 per cent of the total number of food items consum~d, while only II per cent were game fish.

From 1967 through the spring of 1970 Lakes Hartwell and Clark Hill on the upper Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina have been stocked with the striped bass Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum) X white bass, Roccus chrysops (RaFinesque) hybrids. A total of 30,000 fingerlings and 26,120,000 fry have thus far been introduced. Approximately 130 hybrids were captured during a one year period (196970) of which 87 were examined for age, growth rate, food habits and meristic characters. The average total lengths for three year classes were 12.6, 17.2 and 20.2 inches respectively and maximum weights were 3.7 pounds and 5.9 pounds for year class one and two respectively. These lengths and weights compare favorably with findings in Tennessee, Bishop (1967) and, as in Tennessee, were greater than reported in Virginia (1969) - (Howard Kerby, personal communication). Stomach contents of specimens examined indicated a definite preference for threadfin shad.

Bioassays were conducted on nine chemicals using one week old larvae and one month old fingerling striped bass, Marone saxatilis (Walbaum), as the test species. The chemicals tested were potassium permanganate, potassium dichromate, copper sulfate, Dylox, ethyl and methyl parathion, Karmex, butyl ester of 2, 4-D and HTH. Tests were conducted at 70° Fahrenheit in glass containers using reconstituted water as the diluent. The fingerlings were much more tolerant to Karmex, potassium dichromate, potassium permanganate and butyl ester of 2, 4-D than were the larvae. A higher concentration of ethyl parathion, methyl parathion, HTH, copper sulfate or Dylox was required to kill the larvae than the fingerlings.

Striped bass, Morone saxatilis, were successfully established ih Florida's fresh water lakes during the summer of 1968. Populations are presently known in at least six separate bodies of water. Lake stocking rates have ranged from 43 fish per acre to 5 fish per acre. All stocks were obtained from Moncks Corner Striped Bass Hatchery, South Carolina, as one to four day old fry and reared to approximately 2 inches (TL) at State hatcheries prior to stocking. Growth has been rapid but variable between populations. The average first year of growth was 11.1 inches (TL). Maximum growth for age I fish was 13.6 inches (TL). Age II striped bass averaged 18.1 inches (TL), weighing 2.35 pounds. Measurements of physical condition, K-factor (Hile), varied between 1.31 and 2.79. Values of K below 1.80 were indicative of poor condition and mortalities were associated with K-factor values below 1.70.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation initiated a program to establish striped bass in Keystone Reservoir in 1965. During the period 1965 to 1969, approximately 2.75 million striped bass ranging from fry to adults have been stocked. A program to determine if a spawning population of striped bass had developed was started in March 1969. The search for natural reproduction utilized egg sampling, meter netting, shoreline shocking, and shoreline seining methods. Natural reproduction was not found in 1969. A gill net survey of the striped bass population was conducted from October through December 1969. Thirty individuals ranging in size from 0.9 to 8.9 pounds were taken. Females accounted for 80 percent of the catch with the larger individuals carrying mature ovaries. Age and growth determinations were made on these fish plus 20 others.

A new method of using antimycin to thin overcrowded sunfish populations was tested in five ponds from 2.8 to 8.2 acres in surface area. Concentrations of 0.6 to 1.6 parts per billion of antimycin applied in the shallow upper ends of the ponds removed from 21.0 to 102.1 pounds per acre of sunfishes, but killed almost no largemouth bass of any size. The partial treatment method worked well in every pond in which it was tested despite some wide diurnal fluctuations in pH. Advantages of the new method are: I) applications are based on easily obtained estimates of water volume in the treated area and if the estimate of pond volume is in error either way, this method is likely to give useful results; 2) higher concentrations of antimycin can be used in the treated area, with little likelihood of eliminating all of the small forage fishes from the pond; and 3) there is an increased safety factor and costs of treatment are lower than for whole pond treatments.

Dredging and filling, especially to create waterfront property, has hadserious adverse effects on Florida's submerged environment. Primary adverseeffects of dredging and filling are disturbance or elimination of establishedaquatic habitats. Dredging and filling peaked in Florida from the 1920'sthrough the 1950's when large tracts of submerged land were sold to attractoutsiders. Submerged lands are generally considered to be held in inalienablepublic trust and legal questions arise concerning sale of these publicly-ownedlands. First controls over sale of submerged bottoms and dredging-filling werein the 1957 Bulkhead Act. In 1969 the State established a system of aquaticpreserves and the 1970 Legislature passed a bill prohibiting the sale ofsubmerged lands except when clearly in the public interest. The State of Florida and the Army Corps of Engineers share concurrentjurisdiction in the issuance of dredge-fill permits.

In 1969 the pesticide concentrations of 20 randomly selected Delta Lakes were evaluated by gas chromatograph. The DDT complex and toxaphene were the prevalent pesticides found in water, fish and bottom sediment. Lake waters were generally low in pesticide residues. Pesticide residues of DDT+metabolites and toxaphene in fish flesh ranged respectively from 0.15-10.60 p.p.m. and 0.0-20.0 p.p.m. Bottom sediment contained from 0.02-3.58 p.p.m. DDT+metabolites, while toxaphene ranged from 0.0-2.47 p.p.m. All lakes surveyed were found to contain pesticides.

Economic returns from the commercial production of fish in Arkansas during 1969 were approximately double those of 1966. Acreages devoted to the culture of golden shiners and channel catfish in Arkansas showed major increases. The cash return from shiners was up 60 percent, and that from catfish increased almost fourfold. The overall return to Arkansas from all fish culture exceeded $17 million, whereas the nationwide return from baitfishes and catfish alone was nearly $35 million. Data collected from Arkansas fish farmers was analyzed with the aid of automatic data processing and are reported in the categories of Foodfish, Baitfish, Fingerlings, and Fee Fishing. Acreages, production, and dollar values of each category are presented. In Arkansas, golden shiners are the leading species in terms of acreage and dollar production. Channel catfish for foodfish rank a close second in dollar value.

A study was initiated in order to evaluate crawfish (Procambarus clarki) production in several impoundments managed for waterfowl on Rockefeller Refuge, Grand Chenier, Louisiana. Impoundments have been intensively managed for waterfowl on the refuge for the past 16 years, however, this has been through a gravity flow system. Pumping units were installed in three ofthe impoundments in 1968, bringing under water control some 6,000 acres of marshland. Certain management techniques employed in these impoundments, particularly in the areas controlled by pumping units, have significantly increased the production of crawfish as well as desirable waterfowl food plants. It is hoped that programs of this nature will stimulate the owners of large tracts of marshes to manage their holdings for wildlife.

A total of 275 channel catfish, measuring on the average of 21.4 mm in total length were raised in the laboratory for 120 days under controlled temperatures of 26,28, and 32 C with lO-hr and 14-hr photoperiods. Data on growth, f09d consumption, food conversion efficiency, and water quality were collected at IS-day intervals. Analysis of length-weight relationship showed that the experimental conditions had no effect on body shape. The fish under 28C-IOL had slow growth in length throughout the study period. Variations in food consumption and food conversion efficiency in IS-day intervals were discussed. Average food consumption and food conversion efficiency for the entire study period were discussed in relation to temperature-photoperiod combinations. The fish at 28 and 32 C consumed more food under IO-hr than under 14-hr light conditions. There was a direct relationship between photoperiod and food conversion efficiency for the fish at all the three temperatures.

A study to determine the relationship of the interval of time between lifts and the catch of ten-foot Wisconsin-type trap nets was included as a segment of an investigation designed to determine the potential of utilizing trap nets as a commercial fishing device in warmwater reservoirs. Data obtained from the catch of 170 trap net lifts, which varied in interval of time between lifts from one to seven days, indicate that with an increase in the interval of time between lifts, the total catch increased while the catch per net day decreased. A logarithmic curve Y = 73.866 + 235.229 log X, where Yequals total catch in pounds and X equals the interval of time between lifts in days, appears to best describe this relationship. The species composition ofthe catch also changed significantly as the interval of time between lifts increased. This change was the result of a decreasing percentage of gizzard and threadfin shad in the catch as the interval increased.