Growth, Mortality, Harvest, and Cost-Effectiveness of Stocked Channel Catfish in a Small Impoundment

Abstract

We compared mortality and harvest of 200‐mm and 250‐mm channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus stocked in equal numbers for 4 years in an impoundment containing populations of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. Based on a 5‐year creel census, 52–92% of stocked fish were harvested. We found no difference between the stocked length‐groups in terms of mean number caught (N = 365 for 200‐mm and 392 for 250‐mm fish), mean number harvested (66% for 200‐mm and 83% for 250‐mm fish), or mean total weight harvested (116 kg for 200‐mm and 164 kg for 250‐mm fish). Stocking mortality, largemouth bass predation, hooking mortality, and spillway escapement were low for both length‐groups in all years. Harvest was the most important source of mortality in these populations. Growth rates were high, and within years did not differ between length‐groups. High exploitation, fast growth, and low hooking mortality suggest length limits may be useful for deferring harvest of channel catfish in small impoundments until they reach a larger size. Based on analysis of cost effectiveness (catch and harvest/cost of stocking), the return on investment was similar for fish from both length‐groups. Consequently, we do not recommend stocking channel catfish larger than 200 mm for most putgrow‐and‐take fisheries.

Variable Responses of Channel Catfish Populations to Stocking Rate: Density‐Dependent and Lake Productivity Effects

“…Fishing mortality is often a larger component of total mortality than is natural mortality for put-grow-take fisheries (Hanson 1986;Eder and McDannold 1987;Santucci et al 1994). One possible explanation is that natural mortality increased with stocking rate because of density-dependent effects, such as depleted prey resources, reduced growth, and poor body condition, which may have led to increased susceptibility to disease and predation (Biro et al 2003;Miranda and Bettoli 2007).…”

Assessment of a channel catfish population in a large open river system

“…Previous studies have examined exploitation patterns for various channel catfish fisheries. Santucci, Wahl and Storck () reported exploitation as high as 83% for channel catfish >250 mm in small Illinois impoundments. Pitlo () and Slipke, Martin, Pitlo and Maceina () determined that commercial fishers were overexploiting channel catfish in the Upper Mississippi River at exploitation levels between 45% and 82%.…”

“…Therefore, the reported size structure in this study was considered to be representative of the population.Previous studies have examined exploitation patterns for various channel catfish fisheries Santucci, Wahl and Storck (1994). reported exploitation as high as 83% for channel catfish >250 mm in small Illinois impoundments Pitlo (1997).…”

A Survey of Catfish Management in the United States and Canada

“…Gillnetting was used mainly in small impoundments and reservoirs, while electrofishing was used equally in all water categories. It appears that effective sampling methods for catfishes remain elusive, especially for sampling in small impoundments and reservoirs where catches are often low and variable (Hanson 1986;Stevenson and Day 1986;Santucci et al 1994). Several agencies that did not conduct population sampling used creel information (included in "other" category).…”