Fish Sampling Component Information

       FISHERIES LIABILITY DISCLAIMER AND FORMAT DESCRIPTION                   
                              Disclaimer                                       

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.  Error correction is a continuing process, and UMESC corrects data   
data errors routinely when a correct value can be determined.  UMESC does not  
delete questionable data when the correct value cannot be determined, but      
attempts to mark such data with an appropriate flag. Users are strongly        
cautioned to check the accuracy of any data obtained and to report suspected   
values to UMESC.  Methods, purposes, and conditions can vary dramatically      
among data-collecting efforts and these data should not be combined with other 
datasets 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.                                            

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                        FISH TREND ANALYSIS DATA                               

Annual fish monitoring on the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS)            
was implemented in 1990 under the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program        
(LTRMP).  Some preliminary sampling was conducted during 1989 to test          
sampling methods in Pools 8, 13 and 26; however, these data are best           
viewed as developmental data that are less useful for routine trend            
analysis.                                                                      

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 meters (occasionally separated by as much as 200 meters).  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 UMESC.                

A second statistical review of the sampling program was planned and            
conducted during 2001, critically examining whether sampling efficiencies      
could be gained.  The final report from this review                            
(Ickes and Burkhardt 2002) is available by request from the                    
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center.                                   

As a result of the 1992 statistical review of the LTRMP fish monitoring        
program, major procedural changes were implemented in 1993.                    
The LTRMP Fisheries 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 (which 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.).                                           

The 2001 statistical review resulted in minor procedural changes that          
were implemented in 2002.  Specifically, four gears were removed from the      
sampling design (night electrofishing, seining, tandem fyke nets, and          
tandem mini fyke nets).  Thus, beginning in 2002, data associated with         
these four gear types are neither available from nor collected by              
the program.  Please review Ickes and Burkhardt (2002) for details             
regarding this change in procedure.                                            

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                                FOREWARD                                       

Use of LTRMP Trend Data for Fish Monitoring                                    

The sampling design for fishes is sufficiently complex that all potential      
users of these data are strongly encouraged to read and understand the Fish    
Monitoring section of the LTRMP Procedures Manual (Gutreuter et al. 1995),     
which describes both historical and current procedures, before undertaking     
any analysis or interpretation of data.  This document is accessible           
by request from:                                                               

           LTRM Fisheries Coordinator                                          
           Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center                         
           U.S. Geological Survey                                              
           2630 Fanta Reed Road                                                
           La Crosse, WI  54603                                                
           USA                                                                 

           Tel: (608) 783-7550, ext. 69                                        
           Fax: (608) 783-8058                                                 

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                                   SUMMARY                                     

LTRMP Fish Sampling Design                                                     

The LTRMP conducts annual monitoring of fishes 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.                                                                      

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.                                                                  

Fish sampling is conducted from June 15 through July 31, August 1 through      
September 14, and September 15 through October 31.  Prior to 1993, each fixed  
site was sampled once (two "replicates" per site) during each time period.     
Beginning in 1993, independently distributed sampling sites have been sampled  
within a combination of stratum and time 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.                                                                       

Data Composition                                                               

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.  LTRMP data and their interpretation are described 
in Gutreuter et al. 1994.                                                      

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                                   REFERENCES                                  

Gutreuter, S.  1993.  A statistical review of sampling of fishes in the Long   
Term Resource Monitoring Program.  National Biological 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                                      

Ieckes, B. S., and R. W. Burkhardt. 2002. Evaluation and proposed refinement   
of the sampling design for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Programs fish     
component. U.S. Geological Survey,                                             
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin,             
October 2002. LTRMP 2002-T001. 17 pp. + Appendixes A-E. CD-ROM included.       

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                   FISH FIELDS FORMAT                           

                                              

1992 DATA OR EARLIER IS SORTED BY DATE AND TIME, LOCATION CODE,                
GEAR CODE, SAMPLING TIME PERIOD, REPLICATE, PAGE NUMBER,                       
AND ROW SEQUENCE NUMBER IN THAT ORDER.                                         
1993 DATA OR LATER IS SORTED BY BARCODE ONLY.                                  

THE "FORMAT" COLUMN CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FORMAT SPECIFIERS:                  
                       "a": alpha character (always UPPER case);               
                       "b": a blank space;                                     
                   "blank": a missing value;                                   
                       "c": alpha character/symbol/digit;                      
                   "c(xx)": character string where xx represents the maximum   
                            number of characters allowed;                      
                       "9": any digit, 0 - 9;                                  
              "MM/DD/YYYY": date format;                                       
                   "HH:MI": time format;                                       

 

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

FIELD DESCRIPTIONS

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