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Complete and Summarize Annual Increments of Monitoring Data for Fish Sampling on the Upper Mississippi River System

To manage the aquatic resources of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) for multiple uses, decision makers and river managers need scientifically sound information about the ecological conditions and trends within the system. As part of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP), the fish component is charged, in part, with annual monitoring and reporting of the status and trends of key fish populations and fish communities of the UMRS.

The LTRMP conducts highly standardized monitoring of fish species in Navigation Pools 4, 8, 13, 26, and in a segment of the unimpounded Mississippi River (Open River Reach), and in La Grange Pool of the Illinois River.

Fish are collected using nine mandatory gear types within eight habitat classifications (strata). Since 1993, sites within these strata have been chosen using stratified random sampling.

Strata classifications include backwater contiguous open water and shoreline, main channel border unstructured, side channel border unstructured, main channel border wing dam, lock and dam tailwater zone, and impounded open water and shoreline areas.

Each year an annual increment of data is collected within each study area and is summarized in an annual status report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The LTRMP fish database and annual reports may be accessed through the home page of the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center's Web site (http//www.umesc.usgs.gov/).

The project was terminated September 2001.