1. Alison Harwood Ecologist
Assessment of Fish Abundance and Species Composition at Selected Sites in South Dakota: An Overview
Alison Harwood
Ecologist

2. Overview 64 sites visited in 2008-09 Fish collected at 60 sites
62 wadeable sites
2 boatable sites
4 sites repeated within assessment for QA/QC
4 sites revisited from assessment
Fish collected at 60 sites

3. Sampling Procedures: Wadeable Streams
Equipment
Smith-Root backpack electroshocker
9” ring anode, rat-tail cathode
fishing net
bucket for fish
Safety equipment
insulated waders
lineman gloves
personal flotation devices

4. Sampling Procedures: Wadeable Stream
1 netter and 1 fisher move upstream
Reaches < 500 m
fished continuously in all habitat
Reaches > 500 m
fished along banks, alternating sides for each subreach
Fish identified at end of reach (< 500 m) or each subreach (> 500 m)

5. Sampling Procedures: Boatable Streams
Equipment
boat electroshocker
fishing net
livewell
Safety Equipment
lineman gloves
personal flotation devices

6. Sampling Procedures: Boatable Streams
1 operator and 1 netter move downstream
Fished for the lesser of an
entire length of a subreach or
700 seconds
Alternated banks as shown below
Fished for the lesser of the entire reach or 500 individuals
Fish identified at the end of each subreach

7. Results Fish collected at 60 of 64 sites
Sampling conditions were not suitable at remaining 4 sites:
insufficient habitat
unsuitable conductivity in water

8. Results 3,508 individuals collected from wadeable streams
Diversity in streams ranged from 0-11 species
41 total species caught
Goldeye
Flathead minnow
Brook trout
Several others…

9. Results 893 individuals collected from boatable streams
Diversity in streams ranged from 6-26 species
29 total species caught
Shortnose Gar
Paddlefish
Shovelnose Sturgeon
Several others…

10. Results Frequently sampled fish: Heritage species identified:
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus)- 609 individuals
Green Sunfish (Lepomus cyanellus)- 563 individuals
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)- 389 individuals
Heritage species identified:
Skipjack Herring (Alosa chrysochloris) – 6 individuals

11. Species Diversity By Site
South Dakota Counties

12. Species Diversity By Site
2 basins had an average of < 5 species/site
Grand River Basin
White River Basin
Conditions in these streams did not allow for a high diversity of fish
South Dakota Counties

13. White River

14. Grand River

15. Species Diversity By Site
Some commonalities among streams with < 5 species detected:
sandy/muddy bottom
little overhanging vegetation on banks
few riffle areas
high amounts of suspended sediment
little structure in river (i.e., few logs, large rocks, etc.)

16. Anomalies Common anomalies included: parasitic lesions
“black spot disease”
tumors
Possible tumor
Black Spot disease

17. Revisited Sites 2000-04 2008-09 Did this affect fishing efficiency?
Both seine netting and electrofishing methods used
Only electrofishing used
Did this affect fishing efficiency?

18. Revisited Sites
Sampled more individuals and more species in 2 of the sites
Sampled fewer individuals and fewer species in 2 of the sites
Differences may be attributable to many factors, not just sampling method

19. Conclusion
The EPA will be evaluating the samples collected during the study.
Changing the fish sampling methods did not appear to affect the numbers of fish sampled.

20. Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of the technicians and staff members who helped with the field collection.
John Clark
Rachael Yarger
Kathy Neitzert
Darin Larson
Ashli Maddox
Parker Norton
Galen Hoogestraat
Kammy Durham
Ryan Thompson
Tyler Meyer
2 personnel from the Nebraska Water Science Center
Numerous landowners and Tribes for granting us access onto their lands