Abstract
Abstract Paddlefish Polyodon spathula (30–67 cm total length, TL) were stocked in six flood control reservoirs (<41 ha) in western Kentucky in January 1995 at a target stocking density of 10 fish/ha. Fish growth was monitored quarterly beginning in July 1995. The fish were implanted intraperitoneally with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. Chemical and physical variables and zooplankton biomass were measured monthly. Three reservoirs that had not been stocked were sampled monthly as controls. Of the 1,440 paddlefish stocked, 353 were recovered at harvest in the fall of 1996, and only two tags were found. Anecdotal evidence indicated some loss to predation by largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and some to escapes through mechanical spillways. The total gross yield was 1,715 kg or 13.7 kg/ha; it ranged from 0.6 to 28.8 kg/ha. Gill nets of 102-mm-bar mesh were optimum for harvest. Mean harvest weights were significantly different among reservoirs. A positive correlation was found between relative ...
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