Minnow Productivity in a Small Illinois Stream

Abstract
As a means of evaluating the effects of harvesting minnows in a small stream, a study was made of the minnow population in a section of Jordan Creek in east‐central Illinois. Nine collections of minnows were made with an electric fish shocker from August 1950 through October 1953. These collections represented a large proportion of the existing population. The yields for the corresponding months of each of the succeeding years increased progressively. The minnow population as a whole exhibited annual cycles of abundance and of average weights of individual fish. Each species responded differently to various environmental factors and to the continuous cropping. Shocking, which is a more effective method of harvesting minnows than is seining, did not reduce the minnow population in the study section of Jordan Creek longer than a few months. The natural fluctuations of the minnow population made it difficult to measure the effects of cropping with the electric shocker.

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