TPWD 1962 F-3-R-9 #758: Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the Waters of Region 5-B: Experimental Use of Copper Sulphate in Killing Undesirable Fish Species, Segment Completion Report

SEGMENT COMPLETION REPORT As required by FEDERAL AID IN FISHERIES RESTORATION ACT TEXAS Federal Aid Project Noe Fw3uR-9 Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the Waters of Region 5—B Job No, Eel (Sega?) Exgerimental Use of Cogger SulQhate in Killing Undesirable Fish Species . Project Leader CharleeE. Gray H. D. Dodgen Executive Secretary Texas Game and Fish Commission Austin, Texas Marion Toole Eugene A. Walker DmJ Coordinator Program Planning, Director April 93 1962 ABSTRACT Five lakes ranging in size from 11 to 175 acres were used as sites for field testing copper sulphate as a fish toxicant. Three were treated in an attempt to selectively kill undesirable species and two were treated with heavier concentrations to determine if copper sulphate could be used econom- ically to eradicate entire fish populations. Before and after treatment netting samples indicated that concentrations of 1.8 to 2.0 parts per million would produce effective selective kills. It is felt that dosages greater than 2.0 parts per million could be used without appreciable damage to dem sirable species. Poor results were obtained on the lakes where a complete kill was attempted. It is evident that a 5.0 parts per million concentraw tion is not enough to effect a complete kill in some cases, even though this concentration produced desired results in Tyler State Park Lake, (Job 16a26, Project F-lA-D-A). SEGMENT COMPLETION REPORT State of Texas Project No. Fw3-R-9 Name: Fisheries Investigations and Surveys ' of the Waters of Region S-B. Job No. E—l (Seg.7) Title: Experimental Use of Copper Sulphate 1n Killing Undesirable Fish Species. Period Covered: February 1, 1961 — January 31, 1962 . OBJECTIVES: To continue the studies of the toxicity of copper sulphate on_the fish in the waters of Eastern Texas by a combination of laboratory and field testing techniques. ' PROCEDURE: Five small lakes were chosen as test sites during this segment. Three were chosen for selective kills and two for complete kills. Water from each lake was brOUght to the laboratory and put into a battery of 18 five-gallon test jars. Test animals were then placed in the jars and various dosages of copper sulphate added. After killing ranges had been determined for a parti- cular body of water, that body of water was then treated with the optimum dosage. Each lake was netted before and after the copper sulphate treatments so that relative abundances could be compared. On one of the lakes, stomachs were taken from several species of fish and preserved for analysis. Represen- tative samples of the organisms found in the stomachs were sent to a specialist to confirm identifications. The specialist's report has not been received as yet. Copper sulphate crystals certified 99 per cent pure were used in the laboratory tests and in treating the lakes. Each lake was carefully mapped, and soundings taken with a fathometer in computing the water volume. An alidade was used for mapping surface areas. FINDINGS: Data and findings for each lake are presented separately below. HITT'S LAKE' Hitt's Lake, located near Tyler in Smith County, Texas, covers 175 acres and contained 953 acre—feet of water at the time of treatment. On July 12, 1961, the lake was treated with 5100 pounds of copper sulphate crys- tals. This brought the water to a calculated concentration of 2.00 parts per million. On July 11, 1961, the day before the treatment, 12 gill nets (1500 feet total) were set in the lake and left overnight. Table 1, shows the relative sizes and numbers of fish taken. The same number of nets were set on July 18, 1961, six daysafter treatment. Table 2 shows the result of this net set. Mesh sizes of all nets ranged from 1 to 3 inches. - 2 _ Table 1. RESULTS OF GILL NET SETS HITT'S LAKE BEFORE COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENT. _m___________.__________L____________a_A____________._________________. SPECIES N0. % OF NO. WEIGHT % OF WEIGHT Spotted gar (Lepisosteus ocglatUs).y 16 7.59 25.00 28.49 Lake chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta) 9 4.26 4.37 4.98 Golden Shiner -- . (Notemigonus crysoleucas) 1 ..48 .19 .22 Yellow bullhead (Ictalurus natalis) 9 4.26 9.31 10.61 Warmouth a» (Chaenobryttus gulcsus) 3 1.43 .50 _.57 Redear sunfish (Lepomig microlophus) 17 72.99 38.37 $3.?‘ Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) 154 8.05 8.00 9.12 White-crappie (39mggig annularis) 2 .94 290% 2 , 211 100.00% 87.. 100.00% Table 2. RESULTS OF GILL NET SETS, HITT'S LAKE, AFTER COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENT. SPECIES NO. % OF NO. WEIGHT % OF WEIGHT Spotted gar (Lepisosteus ocglgtus) 19 2.78 46.00 21.23 3' Largemouth bass . (Micropterus salmoides) 13 .l.89 15.50 7.16 Redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) ‘ 15 \2.19 7.06 3.50 Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) 616 89.79 137.00 63.23 Yellowbelly sunfish (Lepomis auritus) 13 1.89 6.62 3.07 White crappie (Pomoxis annularis) 10 1.46 3.88 1.81 686 100.00% 216.06 100.00% BIOvSSSSyS conducted in the laboratory revealed a concentration of 1.8 parts per million copper sulphate in Hitt”s Lake water would provide a good kill of undesirable species with a minimum of_danger to the desirable species. However, in previous segments, it was found that some of the copper sulphate was lost rapidly after application in the lakes themselves. This loss was greater than that in the lake water used in the test jars. Therefore, the concentration need in the lake treatment was increased 0.2 parts per million, over the optimum dosage indicated by the laboratory tests. It is suspected that absorption of the copper sulphate by phytoplankton and higher aquatic plants may account for the mere rapid loss in the lakes. Water analyses were run at 2 to 4wfoot intervals from the surface down to 16 feet. Table 3 shows the results of these analyses.- _'_I‘_a_.p__le 3. WATERANALYSISLJ-QTT‘S LAKE, JULY 12. 1961 Depth Temperature Diesolved Methyl orange Dissolved carbon in feet .H.OF. é ”Oxygen_ppm glkgligitymppm dioxide.ppm ..q 0 83 ' 4.4 22 3.0 7.2 l 83 2 83 3 83 4.4 22 3.0 7.2 4 83 5 83 6 83 3.0 22 3.0 - . 6.6 7 81 ' 8 78 2.0 25 15.0 6.2 9 76 10 74 0.4 28 17.0 6.2 11 73 12 72 .2 35 22.0 6.4 13 70 14 70 trace 74 48.0 6.4 15 68 16 67 trace 107 6.4 17 67 Turbidity = 42 inches secchi. Observations made one day after treatment revealed large numbers of yellow bullhead catfish (Ictalurus gagglig) and lake chubsuckers (Erimyzon sucetta) Were dead and in distress. Moderate numbers of spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), golden shiners (Notemiggggg ggygglggggg} and blues gill sunfish (Lepomis mgprochirus) were also found dead and in distreSs. These observations, plus the compariSon of before and after treatment netting results, indicates that the population of undesirable species was appreciably reduced. Since 616 bluegill sunfish were taken in the nets after treatment, indicating a great abundance of this species, the reduction of this species was most likely beneficial. - 4 c The average coefficient of condition for 44 bluegill sunfish netted before the treatment was 4.22. The average for 38 bluegills taken 84 days after the treatment was 4.05.- This is a reduction of'a little over 4 per cent in the calculated condition value. This lake is the first ever treated during these experiments in which gar were present and it is interesting to note that some of the spotted gar were killed by the copper sulphate. SPRING LAKE Spring Lake is located just above Hittis Lake on the same stream. It covers an area of 18.28 acres and contained 146 acrewfeet of water. On July 13, 1961, the lake was treated with 700 pounds of copper sulphate crystals which resulted in a calculated concentration of 1.7 parts per million. This is the optimum concentration as indicated by the laboratory tests. No correction factor was applied as in the treatment of Hitt's Lake. Before and after treatment net samples were taken on July 11 and July 18, 1961. Six gill nets (900 feet total) were used each time. The mesh size of these nets ranged from 1 to 3 inches. Tables 4 and 5 show the results of the before and after treatment netting samples respectively. Water analyses were run at 2 to 4afoot intervals from the surface to 14 feet. Table 6 shows the results of these analyses. Table 4. RESULTS OF GILL NET SETS, SPRING LAKE, BEFORE COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENT Species Np. % No. Weight Z of Weight Lake chubsucker , . (Erimyzon sucetta) 11 9.91 7.25 16.38 Golden-Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) 2 1.81 ' 0.50 . 1.13 Yellow bullhead _ . . - (Ictalurus natalis) 21 18.91 15.25 -34.46 Largemouth bass . (Micropturus Salmoides) l .90 2.00 4.52 Warmouth (Chaenobryttus gulosus) 4 3.60 0.50 1.13 Redear sunfish _ .p (Lepomis microlophus) 4 3.60 g 2.19 4.94 Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis_macrochirus) 64 57.66 15.75 35.60 White crappie . . _ (Pomoxis annularis) 4 3,61 0 —_—o 111 100.00% 44 ‘9 N00 till-I H O OH 9 oi’m (D-F N - 5 _ A comparison of Tables 4 and 5 shows that bullhead catfish and golden shiners were still present after the treatment. However, observations made after the treatment revealed that good numbers of these species had been killed. No chubsuckers were taken in.the nets after the treatment. It is felt that this lake could have been treated with a heavier concentration of copper sulphate with little or no damage to the desirable species and a greater kill of undesirable ones. Table 5. ,RESULTS OF GILL NET SETS, SPRING ng§_ AFTER COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENT. Species No. . Zof No. . Weight - X of Weight Golden Shiner . (Nppgmggpppp crysoleucas) l 0.32 0.50 0.61 Yellow bullhead (Lctalurpp natalis) 7 2.23 7.13 8.69 Warmouth - (Oppenobryttus gpigsus) 7' 2.23 1.06 1.29 Redear sunfish (Leppmiglmicrolophpp) 12 3.84 4.13 5.04 Bluegill sunfish - (ggpomis mapggchirug) 275 - 87.86 66.00 80.48 White crappie - _ - (Pgmggiglannularig) I" ll . {3.52 ,_3.19 3.89 313 1 0.00 82.01 100.00 Table 6. WATER ANALYSIS, SPRING LAKE, Jupgmlg, 1961 Depth Temperature Dissolved Methyl orange Dissolved carbon .iswfeet LLLEE_LLLLL gsiaeninnm sitsliaitrmnnm idioxidamssnl__ _EE_ 0 84 9.0 8.0 4.0 6.2 l 84 2 84 3 84 4 84 8.0 14.0 4.0 6.0 5 84 6 83 2.0 20.0 5.0 6.0 7 78 8 75 2.0 25.0 12.0 6.0 9 72 . 10 71 2.0 30.0 13.0 6.0 11 70 12 68 3.0 45.0 22.0 6.2 13 67 14 66 4.0 40.0 72.0 6.0 15 65 H o~ O\ .5 _ 6 - SOUTTER'S LAKE Soutter's Lake is located 15 miles southeast of Athens in Henderson County, Texas. The water covers 20 acres and contained 160 acre-feet at the time of treatments. On June 13, 1961, the lake was treated with 777 pounds of copper sulphate crystals which resulted in a concentration of 1.8 parts per million. The lake was netted with eight gill nets (900 feet total) before and after the treatment. The mesh sizes of the nets ranged from 1 to 3 inches. Results_of these net sets are shown in Tables 7 and 8. Water analyses were run before and after the treatment of this lake. Results of the before and after treatment analyses are shown in Tables 9 and 10. Comparison of Tables 7 and 8 indicates that a good kill of bullhead catfish was obtained. On June 19, 1961, six days after the treatment, a count was made of dead fish on the entire shoreline. Dead fish counted at this time were as follows: Gizzard shad - 3 Golden shiner - 26 Bullhead catfish - 6376 Sunfish(several species) 60 Warmouth 9 Black crappie 7 Many dead fish were trapped in the heavy vegetation in the lake and could not be counted. The owner of the lake reported that he had disposed of two number three washtubs of bullhead catfish before the count was made. Three gizzard shad were killed by the copper sulphate, although none -ere taken in the before treatment netting samples. Table 7. RESULTS OF GILL NET SETS, SOUTTER'S LAKEa BEFORE COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENTI JUNE 12, 1961 Species Hg. Z of No. Weight Z of Weight Golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) 1 1.04 0.25 1.12 Black bullhead (lctalurus males) 18 18.55 3.69 16.55 Yellow bullhead (lctalurus natalis) 22 22.68 7.94 35.62 Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) 4 . 4.13 4.62 20.73 Bluegill A (Lepomis magroghirug) 46 47.42 4.13 18.53 Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) __6 6.18 , 1.66 7.45 97 100.00% 22.29 100.00% 2.7.1. 1 Table 8. gsgggTs 0F GILL NET SETS. SOUTTERrs LAKEa AFTER COPPER SULPflglg EEEATMENT. JUNE 20. 196; §Pesi_a ' Ego '- '“Eiefifleo Height ‘Zigf-Weisht Warmouth ' - - - ' - (thigpbrygggg gglgggg) 3 1.78 0.62 . 4.08 Green sunfish -' - - - .- (Eepgmgg gyggellgg) ' '1' ' - .59. ’ 0.25 . 1.64 Bluegill . - - _' - _ . .-_ leesesis.eesreghirus) f159 , ; 94.08 - . 'e- 13.50 - 88.88 Black crappie _ - (Egmggig nigromaculatug) =6 '_ _3.55 ‘- " * '0.§g - ‘ '_§§.4Q = -' '169 ' 100.00% - "15.l9= - - 100.00% T8618 9. EATER ANALYSIS._SOUTTER'SgLAKE. JUNE Lgiglggg- Depth Tempgrature Dissolved Menthyl orange Dissolved Carbon iELEesE L_--.£..__- gerssaissa. alksliai£r_22ei' Eisxide_22m . EH. ' o 84 5.4 I 29 3 7.2 2 84 - - - ' 3 84 4 84 5.6 29 3 _ ' 7.2 5 84 _ . . ..h . 6 84 5.2 29 2.5 7.2 7 84 - fl _ 8 81 5.6 ' 29 ' Z 3 . ' 7.2 9 80 10 78 4.0 25 4.5 ' 6.8 11 76 . 4 . .. .. N 12 72 2.0 33 17.50 6.8 12.5 70.5 ' Table 10. WATER ANALYSIS2 SOUTTER'S LAKE; AFTER COPPER SULPHATE TREATMENEL mm “a... mum mun—“.mu—m— mum—nrmw—i JUNE 20g_;ggi Depth Temperature Dissolved Menthyl orange Dissolved Carbon miss; .........§’.E....__.___.._ generalize .a___1ka__1i_n_i_1t mes germane”... EH... ' 0 76 4 14 90 6.6 2 75 4 25 90 6.4 4 75 3.2 28 ‘ 90 6.4 6 75 3.6 32 90 6.6 8 75 3.2 35 100 6.6 10 74 2.8 25 '= ”'90 6.4 12 73 2.8 35 130 6.4 14 68 - 3 - DOUPHRATE'S LAKE Douphrate's Lake is located six miles east of Gilmer in Upshur County, Texas. This lake was selected as a site to attempt a complete eradication of the fish population by a heavy dosage of copper sulphate. It covered 11.28 acres and contained 64.94 acre-feet of water at the time of the treatment. On August 15. 1961 the lake was treated with 876 pounds of copper sulphe ate to obtain a calculated concentration of 5 parts per million in the water. The lake was netted on December 7, 1959, by other workers for other purposes. The results of this netting were used to compare with the after treatment netu ting which was done on September 29, 1961. Tables 11 and 12 show the before and after treatment netting results, respectively. Table 13 shows the results of water analyses made on the day of the treatment. Although comparison of Tables 11 and 12 shows a marked reduction of the number of fish present, it is felt that the concentration used was not great enough to obtain the desired results. Although a ”complete" kill is a goal very seldom attained, a suc» cessful ”complete” kill should leave very few survivors. It is felt that this treatment fell short of the desired results. Table 11. RESULTS or GILL NET SETS, DOUPHRATE'S LAKE, BEFORE COPPER_SEEPHATE TREATMENT, DECEMBER 1, 1959 Spegigs HQ. % o No. Wei ht Z of Wei ht ...._3__ NHL spotted gar (Lepisosteus pculatus), 24 12.6 62.0 35.6 Lake chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta) 116 60.8 92.0 52.8 Golden shiner - (Notemigonus crysoleugas) 5 2.6 1.1 0.6 Yellow bullhead . (lctalurus natalis) 2 1.0 1.8 1.0 Largemouth bass (Microptergs salmoides) 2 1.0 6.4 3.7 Redear sunfish . (Lepomig microlophus) 14 7.3 3.7 2.1 Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirug) 8 4.2 1.3 0.7 Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) 20 10.5 _ 6.1 3.5 - 191 100.0 ' 174.4 100.0