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The LTRMP conducts annual monitoring of fish in six study reaches of the Upper Mississippi River System: Navigation Pools 4, 8, 13, and 26, and an unimpounded reach near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the Mississippi River; and La Grange Pool on the Illinois River. The LTRMP will continue to expand fish monitoring beyond these six study reaches, and welcomes participation by other agencies and groups that could sample other areas using the LTRMP sampling protocol. Contact Brian Ickes, Tel: 608.781.6298, email: bickes@usgs.gov for further information.
The LTRMP conducts highly standardized fish sampling in main channel border, tailwater, side channel, contiguous (to the main channel or side channels) backwater, and impounded aquatic areas in each study reach. Sampling is conducted using electrofishing, hoop netting, fyke (trap) netting, seining, and trawling.
From 1990 through 1992, all fish sampling was conducted at subjectively chosen permanently fixed sampling sites within each aquatic area. Each site consisted of a pair of sampling locations separated by about 50 m (occasionally separated by as much as 200 m). In the original LTRMP fish sampling design, these pairs of sampling locations within fixed sites were considered replicates for the site and for the aquatic area.
A statistical review of the sampling program was planned and conducted during 1992, critically examining the original LTRMP fish monitoring design and considering design alternatives. The final report from this review (Gutreuter 1993) is available by request from the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center.
As a result of the statistical review of the LTRMP fish monitoring program, major procedural changes were implemented in 1993. The LTRMP Fish Component adopted a stratified random sampling design, with aquatic areas serving as strata. Spatially randomized sites, with proper independent replication within strata, are currently sampled.
Subjectively chosen permanently fixed sites have been retained in tailwaters (that are too small to permit meaningful replicated random sampling) and at a few sites of special interest (having historical occurrences of endangered species, associated with habitat restoration projects, etc.).
Fish sampling is conducted from June 15 through July 31, August 1 through September 14, and September 15 through October 31. Before 1993, each fixed site was sampled once (two "replicates" per site) during each period. Beginning in 1993, independently distributed sampling sites have been sampled within a combination of stratum and period.
Gears and use of gear are highly standardized within the LTRMP. See the Fish Monitoring section of the LTRMP Procedures Manual (Gutreuter et al. 1995) for details.
Principal fish data collected are species composition, relative abundance (catch-per-unit-effort), and length distribution of catches. Subsamples from a few species (particularly freshwater drum) are collected for age determination, growth analysis, and examination of food use. The LTRMP also collects considerable site-specific data on environmental conditions and quality assurance measures. The LTRMP data and their interpretation are described in Gutreuter et al. (1995).
Gutreuter, S. 1993. A statistical review of sampling of fishMay 29, 2008ical Survey, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin, December 1993. EMTC 93-T004. 15 pp.
Gutreuter, S., R. Burkhardt, and K. Lubinski. 1995. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Procedures: Fish monitoring. National Biological Service, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin, July 1995. LTRMP 95-P002-1. 42 pp. + Appendixes A-J
These data have been generated by State agencies under contract with the Department of the Interior and the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC). Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the UMESC, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. However, error correction is a continuing process, and the UMESC routinely makes changes to data as errors are discovered.
The file date is referred to as the release date and should be mentioned in all references to data. These data have been provided as a unit package to ensure that you receive a valid data set collected in a consistent manner. Methods, purposes, and conditions can vary dramatically among data-collecting efforts and these data should not be combined with other data sets from the UMESC or other sources unless the user fully understands the procedures and purposes used to create each set of data and can verify that data are comparable across sources.
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/fisheries/fish_page.html
Page Contact Information: Contacting the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Page Last Modified:
May 29, 2008
