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<br />334 BIOLOGICAL REPoRT 19
<br />
<br />larvae in the unchannelized reach upstream from
<br />Lewis and Clark Lake, 0.7% in the lower chan-
<br />nelized reach, and 0.2 % in the channelized reach.
<br />Spawning sauger were collected from a glacial
<br />till outcropping in Boyd County, Nebraska, on the
<br />Missouri River at a maximum rate of 36/h of elec-
<br />trofishing during 1963-65 (Nelson 1968). We have
<br />duplicated his effort (similar equipment, time of
<br />year, time of day) periodically between 1982 and
<br />1989. Average peak catch for the period was 3.7
<br />sauger/h. We recommend that sauger be listed as
<br />endangered in Nebraska..
<br />
<br />Blue Catfish
<br />
<br />Blue catfish (IctalunLS furrotus) were known to
<br />colonize the Missouri River north to Montana;
<br />however, Pflieger (1975) reported that they also
<br />moved seasonally in response to water tempera-
<br />ture, returning to the most southern reaches of
<br />their range, where water remained the warmest.
<br />Large dams on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers
<br />and their tributaries prevented this migrational
<br />response to environmental stimuli and probably
<br />contributed to their demise.
<br />Churchill and Over (1933) suggested that blue
<br />catfish were widely distributed in the Missouri,
<br />White, James, Big Sioux, and Cheyenne rivers in
<br />South Dakota. However, by the early 1960's inten-
<br />sive netting and creel surveys resulted in only one
<br />small specimen collected downstream from Fort
<br />Randall Dam (Bailey and Allum 1962). Jones
<br />(1963) reported that its range was probably re-
<br />stricted to the Missouri River in Nebraska, with an
<br />occasional large specimen occurring in the Platte
<br />River as far west as Saunders County. The blue
<br />catfish was fairly common in the Missouri River
<br />and rare in the lower Kansas and Marais des Cy-
<br />gnes rivers of Kansas (Cross 1967). However, he
<br />noted the incredible size of the species. He cited
<br />frequent accounts of blue catfish exceeding 50 kg.
<br />We found a news article in the Yankton DakDtian
<br />dated 5 August 1862 that said, "Katphish, of fabu-
<br />lous dimensions, are being taken from. the placid
<br />waters of the Big Muddy about these times. A great
<br />many of them weigh two and three hundred
<br />pounds."
<br />Recently blue catfish have been caught only
<br />rarely by anglers in Nebraska's portion of the Mis-
<br />souri River. One weighing 45 kg was caught in
<br />Lewis and Clark Lake in August 1990. Smaller
<br />specimens are commonly channel catfish mistaken
<br />
<br />for blue catfish; few contemporary sporl catehes
<br />have been verified to be blue catfish.
<br />Snow (1875) considered the blue catfish "the
<br />most valuable species in the river (Kansas River),
<br />since it is quite abundant" (Cross 1967). Kingsbury
<br />(1915) reported that "tlle catfish was an important
<br />factor in the settlement of Dakota., and in the opin-
<br />ion of many of the early settlers, the food problem
<br />would have been a very serious one had it not been
<br />for the abundant supply of this best of all fishes
<br />right at the threshold of the settlements." Audubon
<br />noted in 1858 that the catfish was a very valuable
<br />article of food in the Missouri River. For scores of
<br />yeal'S the early traders subsisted almost exclusively
<br />on buffalo (bison [Bison bison]) and catfish (Hesse
<br />and Mest11989).
<br />Funk and Robinson (1974) reported that catfish
<br />composed 30% of the commercial catch in 1894. As
<br />a group they were heavily exploited at the turn of
<br />the century, especially large blue catfish. Between
<br />1949 and 1971 the reported commercial harvest of
<br />blue catfish in Missouri's section of the Missouri
<br />River remained somewhat stable as a percentage of
<br />total catfish cateh (16%). However, their total num-
<br />bers in the catch declined by nearly 801/0 (Funk and
<br />Robinson 1974). Reported blue catfish commercial
<br />catch in Missouri increased from 4,292 kg in 1970
<br />to 8,610 kg in 1985, whereas no blue catfish were
<br />harvested in Nebraska's portion after 1966 (Zuer-
<br />lein 1988). Commercial blue catfish harvest in Ne-
<br />braska declined steadily from 5,846 kg in 1944 to
<br />654 kg in 1966 (Zuerlein 1988; Table 5).
<br />Nebraska biologists have collected catfish from
<br />the Missouri River since at least 1958. The sam-
<br />ples taken included many age classes, including
<br />young-of-the-year. Methods of capture included
<br />seine, gill net, trammel net, hoop net, rotenone,
<br />explosives, boat electrofishing, deepwater elec-
<br />trofishing, telephone generator, and the newest in
<br />electronic devices, euphemistically called the
<br />skoal box. We have gathered much of these data
<br />
<br />Table 5. Mean annual reported harvest (kg) of
<br />catfish from the Missouri River in Nebraska
<br />during four time periods (Zuerlein 1988).
<br />Time Blue Channel Flathead
<br />period catfish catfish catfish
<br />
<br />1944-53
<br />1954-63
<br />1964-73
<br />1974-83
<br />
<br />4,383
<br />2,138
<br />1,704
<br />closed
<br />
<br />12,101
<br />11,787
<br />9,004
<br />7,541
<br />
<br />9,074
<br />6,876
<br />3,251
<br />5,116
<br />
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