TPWD 1955 F-9-R-3 #121: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present, as well as Their Distribution in the Nueces River, its Tributaries and Watershed, Lying within Edwards, Real, Uvalde

STATE Texas PROJECT NO. F9R3 - Job 3-12 PERIOD July 1, 1955 - June 30, 1955 Job Completion Report Elgin M, O. Diets - Project Leader Fred G. Lowman Jr. - Assistant Project Leader TITLE Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present, as well as Their Distribution in the Hueces River, its Tributaries and watershed, Lying within.Edwards, Real, Uvalde, and Kinney Counties, Texas. OBJECTIVES To gather fundamental data on the above waters in regard to their physical, chemical and biological aspects. To determdne the distribution of fish species present, their relative abundance and the ecological factors influencing their distribution. OOOPEEAEING AGENCIES Texas Board of'Water Engineers United States Geological Survey METHODS During the course of the survey, the 23 collections made consisted of 8 gill nets and 2O seining collections. Gill net collections were made'with experi- mental nets 125 feet long, hanging eight feet in the water. The mesh ranged from one to three inches square, graduating % inch each 25 feet. It was diffieult in many instances to locate a section of the river to accommodate the net, but a fairly even coverage was obtained. The seining collections were made with 26 by 6 feet hag seines, %” mesh, and common sense seines having a 1/8" mesh, four feet deep-with the 'length varying fram four to ten feet. A majority of the fish were preserved in lO% formalin solution and returned to the laboratory for identification and tabulation. in instances where large num- bers of a single species were collected, they were counted, resorded, and returned to the river. The cooperation of Dr. Clark Hhhbs, Department of Zoology, University of Texas, and W, H. Brown, Assistant Chief.Aqnatic Biologist, Texas Game and Fish Commission, in the verification and identification of many species was greatly appre- ciated. The game warden of eaeh county of the watershed was especially helpful. They were very cooperative in assisting with the finding of suitable station loca- tions, and getting permission from land owners to carry on survey work. n.water analysis, made in the field, included air temperature, water temp- erature, pH, dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide and alkalinity. The analysis was made at l? of the 25 stations. Data pertaining to river flow was obtained from United States Geological Survey and The Texas Board of water Engineers. HISTORY The watershed of the dances was the lummeof the Jumano Indians, a tribe of the Comanche Nation. The first white people to see the finesse River were the members of Cabesa de Paca‘s expedition. Ehscoso's Spanish expedition crossed the river in 15h2. The first semi-permanent white men in the area was Father Sales and a group of soldiers in 1629. This Christianising of the Indians failed at that time. Spaniards then began to raid the Indians, hearing that gold and pearls were abundant in the area. The old name of the river was Rio de laa Perlas. when the stream was first called the Nueces, is not known. The word Nueces is Spanish. The literal translation of the word.is nut, but is generally used to refer to the pecan specifically. The settlement of San Antonio in lTlB'was probably the opening of the country to settlers, however, as late as 18h5 the area occupied by'Uvalde oounty was very sparsely settled. It was still the hunting grounds of the Comanche. In lflhh, the town of Castroville, some 55 miles east of the present loca- tion of Uvalde, was settled by about 500 French and Alsatians under the lead of Count Henri de Castro. This group then spread west and the town of D'Hanis was established. In lflhg two forts were established in the area. One, Fort Lincoln, near D'Hanis and the other, Fort Inge, two miles south of Uvalde near Inge mountain. After the establishment of the forts, the area was populated rather rapidly, largely by people of German descent. The primary'occupation was ranching, as it is today. In 1856 the town of Uvalde was founded. Since that time the settlement has gradually increased, the larger ranches being broken up to make room for mere families, in the way typical of the latter settling of most of western areas. PTIBICAL CHARACTERISTICS The upper part of the Hueces River is divided into two forks. The west Fork of the Nueoes, flowing southeasterly, drains the south central portion of Edwards County, the northeast portion of Kinney County, and a small portion of western.Uvalde County. Its length is approaimately lOO river miles before its oonfluence with the East Fork ll miles northwest of the city of uvalde. The East Fork seldom flows, but a few permanent holes are along its course. The East Fork, being the main fork. has its beginning with a spring in northwestern Real County. Approximately nine miles east of Rocksprings, there is a spring on Hackberry Creek which gives the Masses a maJor part of its water in the northernmost reaches. The river collects water from.many small springs in the river had over the entire Edwards Plateau section. Pulliam Creek, Just north of Campwood, Real County, contributes an appreciable amount to the finesse” flown Innmugrplaces the flow will enter a permeable material and re- emerge some miles downstream. This materially affects the flow in parts of the river. The river, on its southerly course through the rather rugged hills of the Edwards Plateau, forms the southern half of the western.county line of Real County, emeept for a short distance below Barksdale. It then enters the northwest corner of Uvalde County, and flows southeast through the western half of the county to the UvaldemZarala County line, which is the southern limit of Region T-B, Teens. A survey is now being made from this point to its mouth by the Biologist of Region B-B .A map is attached to fasilitate locating areas discussed in this report. In Region T-B, except for a small portion of the river south of U. 8. High- way QO, the entire river basin is within the Edwards Plateau. In the upper reaches of the Hueces, where canyons in.many places are only lOO to 200 feet wide and the bottom is bad rock, there are many dams three to six feet in height. These dams have been constructed by land owners adjacent to the stream. Natural pools are rather frequent in the river. The bottoms of these pools are generally gravel but some are-scoured to bed rock, to be filled.with gravel on the next rise while others are scoured out. The riffle areas have gravel and in some instances bed rock bottoms. There are no falls which would be an obstruction to fish movement. Northwest of Uvalde, the Hueces emerges from the narrow canyons of the Edwards into its much wider bed of the coastal prairie. The flood plains in this area are-often one-half.mile widE. There occurs between Laguna and the mouth of the west Rueces, the Balcones Fast,which is a large intake area for the Edwards_limestone. This intake cone, some ls miles long has generally accepted the entire normal flow of the river in the past years. A Geological Survey study on May 2, l93+0 reported this intake zone was absorbing water at the rate of Tfi.h second feet, the total flow. However some eight miles below this permeable area, on the HhDaniel Ranch, a flow of 15.0 second fact had reomerged on the same date. Table 5 illustrates this condition. An exception occurred in 19h9, due to a flood on the Test Rueces only. This tributary'enters the river between the gauging stations. This condition divides the river into two ecol- ogical habitats in this region, the northern portion, with its rather swift, clear, bluegreen waters, typical of all waters emerging from.limestone, and the southern section, which is noneflowing the major part of the year, and generally dries to a few rather large holes. When a flow does occur in the southern part, it is usually a flood and many times of no small proportion. During the course of this survey a flood occurred which reached a height of 32.7 feet at Laguna. It is the highest on.records The flood was collected from a 13 inch, 6 hour, rain.which fell on the upper 76h square miles of the 1,9eT square mile watershed in this region. Unless conditions are changed with proper range management and water conservation practices the condition could become more acute. It is regrettable that a large majority of the seining collections were made before, and all gill net collections were made after this most destructive of all floods, thereby missing an opportunity to check the influence of such vast amounts of silt laden and eroding waters on the fish population. It would be well if work could be done to determine the damage to fish populations by such large amounts of runoff water. CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS The upper Nueces is one of the few rivers in Texas in.which little turbidity or pollution occurs in its normal flow. Its waters are a blue green and the bottom is plainly visible to a depth of eight or ten feet most of the year. The exceptions to these conditions are encountered during the floods which are a plague to the rivers in this area. During these floods, however, a large quantiy of manure is washed into the river whose fertilising value may be of some benefit to the fish population. Some pollution is found from.septic tanks emptying into the river, and an occasional dead animal in the streams This form of pollution on such a small scale is of questions able detriment to the fish. Hater analyses were run at l? of the 25 stations made. No abnormal or detrbmental conditions were found. The oxygen content ranged from.2.h ppm.to ll.h ppm averaging 6.1} ppm. The carbon dioxide was found to be between 0.3 ppm and ltd) ppm with a mean of 1:..0 ppm. The total alkalinity range extended from 129 ppm to 256 you ave rag- ing 192.8 ppm. The pH averaging 8.3 varied from a low of 7.5 to 8.8. Although.most water temperatures were taken in the flowing portion of the stream, the high of 929? occurred in a shallow inlet. The average temperature was 80.h, however, all but two of the water temperatures were taken in July, which accounts for the high temperature. The average air temperature at the time of the water temperature check was 91.50. The coldest water temperature recorded was EtOF in January. The water emerges from the springs in the low seventies. Somewhat different conditions exists south of'U. S. Highway 90. From this point downstream the river consists of a few large pools. As these are sporadic springs and little flow, the water temperature are affected to a greater extent by the air temperature. The flow being little or none, these pools are prone to silt rather quickly after floods. Other than these variances the chemical conditions concur with those of the upper perennial section. some, vsssmmos, ARI] LAND use. The watershed of the finesse is utilised primarily for the grasing of cattle, sheep and goats. Farming is done in the valleys and bottom lands where the soil is of a sufficient depth, and not too rolling. In all probability the amount of farm land does not comprise more than 1% of the area in the watershed. Crops primarily raised are oats, wheat, and some barley. .A few row crops are planted during the spring, mostly hegari and.milo. Un.many ranches along the creeks and river, irrigation from the stream supplements the 22 inch annual rainfall. Most of the irrigated plots are small and defer little of the flow when considered.as a whole. However, if'winter months are dry, an appreciable amount of water is, or could be, deferred to the irrigae tion of the winter grains. The soil in the area is of a reddish brown color, derived mostly from the limes stone of the area. The soil covering of the hillsides is very shallow or non-esistent in.many'places. Overgrasing and recent years of drought have removed.most of the grass cover, permitting the occasional, heavy local rains to severely erode the soil. Much of this silt is deposited below the Edwards Plateau on the coastal prairie, where the riserbed is wider and velocity decreases. The cover that does occur over the watershed is composed primarily of short grasses such as buffalo, mesquite and grams grass. Some bluestems are present but overs grating had done much to deplete these grasses. Trees of the area are mostly hardwoods, oaks being the most common. Junipers are present in goodly numbers, but are rapidly being cut by ranchers, as they are considered a detriment to the growth of grasses. Some also occur and are utilised along with cake for goat browse. After leaving the Edwards Plateau northwest of Uralde, the river emerges on the coastal prairie. The soil in this area is rough, stoney land.which has scattered brush and small tree, com- posed mostly of mesquite, small oaks, purple sage, and quahillo. The grasses, principally curly mesquite, buffalo and threeuawn, occur primarily in the valleys where soil is deeper, and moisture conditions are more suitable. AQHATIU PLANTS At the beginning of this survey, aquatic plants were abundant in the river. In some places they were becoming a nuisance to fishermen. In most areas however, they only occurred in profusion enough to offer a reasonable sancturary for forage fish, insect larvae, ete. The mest abundant aquatie plants were eeenteil (Cerate h llum EE-): mushgrase (Chara vulgaris) and water milfeil (Myrephyllum heterephyllum . Aleng the banks an eeeasienafflgFEfith ef eattail (Typha latifeliai was feund, and in the shallew still waters, yellew waterlily (Euphar advenai grew in.mederate numbers. In the eeel spring areas, watererees (Nasturtium.effieinale) was abundant. Verieue ether aquaties grew in lesser numbers intermingled with these already mentiened. Table 6 is a eheehlist ef the aquatie plants feund. The fiend ef September 25, 1955 redueed the aquatic vegetatien almest te the peiat ef entinetien, thus leaving the smaller fish te seek eever ameng reeks, heles washed nut in the banks, er an eeeasienal tree tep bent inte the river. In same areas whish were preteeted frem the fleed waters by'a ledge er same ether ebstruetien, a few aquatie plants eeeur, mestly eeentail, mushgrass and water milfeil. The seed and plants that remained, with time, will undeubtedly reeedy this went fer sever. AflflESSIBILITY Private lands ajeining the finesse River, make gaining aeeees te the stream rather diffieult. The river is eensidered a publie stream te the meuth ef Haekberry Creek, same 7% air miles nerth ef Vanee, Real Ceunty. Humereus highway and eeunty reai eressings are feund aleng the river, where a persen might fish. Hewever if a persen strays tee far free these ereseings, frietien might be eneeuntered frem land- ewners, even theugh he has the legal right te trespass en the river bed. "There are land ewners whe fer a small eharge allew fishermen aeeees tn the river, and same allew evernight eamping. In.many instanees the fishing rights are ineluded with Tense”i system ef purehased hunting leases. Many times a persenzmey ebtain permissien te fish by asking the landewner, eendueting himself in a epertsman- like manner and respeeting the raneher'e preperty. .e fisherman, after establishing himself trustwerthy, is usually permitted by the lendewner te return with little interfe renee . En.many parts ef the river, and mere espeeially in the upper regiene, the land is ewned.by persens she have interests ether than ranching. These individuals are fer the mest part very eeeperative, and attempt te earry en pregrame agnflucivg te geed fish and game management. Feasibilities te gain aeeeee te these waters, whieh are private, is praetieally nil. Heavy fishing pressure eeeurs here hewever, free the friends whe are allewed assess by invitatien enly. Hewever diffieult it may seem te gain aeeess te this stream, a geed epertsman with perseveranee sen leeete a plane te fish. aside frem natural repreduetien, the stream is heavily steehed frem the State Fish Hatehery at Ingram, and the Federal Fish Hatehery at Uvalde. The fish eteeked are primarily: hlaek bass, ehannel eatfish, bluegill, and same redear sunfish. flensidering the river as a whale, mederate te heavy ameunts ef fishing pressure eeeurs, and fishing is eensidered te be frem fair te geed. REEUIHE OF FISH COLLECTIONS During the survey 28 statiens were made. Table l is the hey te their leeatien. Table 3 is a ehart shewing the speeies and number eaught at eaeh statien. a tetal ef 1,L63 speeimens were eelleeted.representing 26 species frem 10 families. Family Lepisesteidae Gare Lepiseeteua reductus: spatted gar. The twe epetted gar were cellected at different statiens. is species alene has net reached numbers which eeuld he cen- sidered detrimental, but in cembinatien with the lengnese gar, might reach numbers which eeuld effect a fish pepulatien in a particular hele er shert sectien cf the river. Lepisesteus esseus: lengneee gar. This fish cf prey secure in all parts cf the river but net in numbers that eeuld be censidered detrimental te the ether fish pepulatiens, with lecal exceptiens. They de eengregate in same ef the larger heles in the lewer pertiens in perhaps eneeesive cencentratiens. Only feur specimens were cellected, all adults in gill nets set in the seuthern pertien. Family Clupeidae Shad Deresema eepedianum: giasard shad. Shad are eenspicueus by their absence in that pertien ef the finesse River cevered by this survey. Only cue specimen.was taken, a large adult, in the lewer part at the river. This is the sectien.where little er ne flew eccurs. Uhless the lack ef silt er mud in the flewing pertien ef the river acceunts fer their absence, an ether eaplanatien can.be effered. Family Characidae Tetraa Aetyanan fasciatus: Bin Grands tetra. .a tetal ef 191 were taken. They are feund in all pertiens ef the river, but generally mere abundant in the upper pertiens, in the clear flewing waters. It is generally regarded as a geed ferage and bait fish. Family Cateetamidae Suckers Ictiebus buhalus: emallmeuth buffale. The smallmeuth buffale seems te ecjey the warmer, still waters ef the lewer part where the river is dry te heles much ef the year. These heles centain mere silt and detritus ever which this buffale prefers ta feed, and is perhaps ene reasen fer their halted immigratien nerthward. .All ef the 22 buffale cellected were in these peels. Mhnnstema cengestums Texas gray redherse sucker. This fish, which is very cemmen in ether rivers ef the Edwards Plateau, has taken its place in the Hueces. It was net taken in any seining cellectiens, with enly adults taken in 6 cf 8 gill net cellectiens made. The fry and fingerlings ef this species are geed ferage fies, and the adults are censidered edible by many'peeple, but are generally classified an undesirable reugh fish. Family Cyprinidae Minnews Hatrepis amabilis: Texas ehiner. The 75 specimens taken, were cellected ever the entire length ef the river. They are censidered a.geed ferage and bait minnew. T. Netrepis venustus: spettail ehiner. This excellent bait and ferage fish was ameng the meet abundant minnew cellected, and very evenly distributed. It is feund in all pertiens ef the river, and shews ne preference fer any particular lecatien. a tetal ef 115 spettails was cellected. metrepis. lepidus: Edwards ehiner. This species, typical ef spring waters, was feund te Be verfirhhfifidant in the perennial flewing pertiens ef the river. Hens ef the 102 specimens were feund in the intermediate flewing lewer pertien. Dienda episcepa: reundnese minnew. This species was the meet abundant.minnew feund. Centrary tn the general findings, this fish was feund in all pertiens ef the river, rather than in spring areas enly. This distributien eeuld be due te the spring~ like cenditiens which prevail ever the entire length ef the perennial flewing pertien, nerthwest ef'Uvalde. .a tetal ef 279 specimens was cellected. Pimephales vigilan vigilan: parret minnew. The six specimens ef this species were cellected at the meet seuthern statien, a rather large standing hele ef water. The waters ef these heles are usually turbid, mere tn the liking ef this fish, and prebably the reasen the fish has net invaded the clearwwatered.nerthern pertien. Campestema anemalum: stenereller. Altheugh the 25 specimens were cellected at enly three statiens, in all likeliheed, the distributien is rather unifenm. One specimen was cellected near the headwaters, the ethers at Pulliam.Creeh near the middle ef the river and at the heles ef the lewer pertien. Family Ameiuridae Freshwater catfishes Ictalurus punctatus: seuthern channel catfish. The 9 specimens cellected were feund in all parts ef the river, but net in large numbers. A faster influencing the eenditien eeuld be the eempetitien ef the large pepulatien ef yellew bullheads. The State Fish Hatchery at Ingram and the Federal Fish Hatchery at Uvalde add the channel catfish te the stream.in large numbers. Apparently, this assistance te natural repreductien has net been the answer te establishing geed numbers ef this species under the cenditien prevailing in this stream. Ameirus natalis: yellew bullhead. This widely distributed speeies was feund in all pertiens ef the Nueces River, in beth the upper spring regiens and the lewer pertien. Of the #0 taken 3h'were taken in gill nets, the rest in seines. They are censidered ef ne value in this regien fer game er ferage purpeses. Family'Peeciliidae Mbequitefishee Gambusia affinis: cemmen mesquite fish. This tep water minnew, was feund te have the meat hemegeneeus distributien ef any fish in the seining cellectiens. The at specimens were taken in 1h ef the ED seining cellectiens made. Other than mesqaite central they have little value. Mbllienisia latipinna: sailfin melly. This small fish, cemmen in the ceastal area ef the river, has immigrated inte these upper pertiens. It was taken at ealy ene cellectien but in all prebability is mere widely distributed than these cellectiens indicate. Family Centrarchidae Black basses and sunfishee JMierepterus salmeides: largemeuth black base. This must seught after game fish'was'ffififidfltEEEfiEheut the watershed. In additien te natural repreductien, the fish hatcheriea at Uyalde and Ingram add this fish tn the waters ef the Nueces in large numbers. All nine ranges were feund, including ene five peund individual taken with a gill net at Statien 1h abeve Laguna. These fish were in excellent cenditien, and eccur in numbers greater than lecal fishermen suspect. Channebryttus cerenarius: warmeuth base. This desirable small sunfish has a rather unITEEE_dIEtFTEutien in its upper sectien ef the hueces, but fer reasens, yet their ewn, they refuse te pepulate the stream.with any great numbers in this area. Three ef the feur specimens were taken with gill nets, and were in geed physical cenditien. Lepemis cyanellus: green sunfish. This sunfish was feund ever the entire river ceuEEE:_Efit_Efi¥p¥iEifigly, net in large numbers. heat-cf the 21 specimens caught were small, hewever, a few large individuals were taken. It inhabited the'intermediate peels ef the streams Lepemie punctstua: spetted sunfish. The small sunfish was feund at enly ene cellectien statien, that near the center ef the perennial sectien ef the river. There is an apparent reasen fer this restricted distributien, and is presumed that they were merely missed by the cellectien techniques used. They are ef little value as a game fish, and enly twe were taken. Lepemis micrnlephus: redear sunfish. The 2 individuals taken were feund in a peel belew a spring aleng the nerthern part ef the west Nueces. This flew eccurred fer abeut 2 miles belew the spring. An this was the enly redear taken, they were, in all prebability stecked by a hatchery. Lepemis macrechirus: bluegill sunfish. The bluegill, usually very abundant in the streams east cf the hueces, did net eccur in tee great numbers in this sectien ef the river. They are else stacked frnm the lecal hatcheries. The lengear sunfish, which are mere suited te this type ef habitat, have apparently held the ever pepulating tendency ef the bluegill in check. Azmajerity ef the 11 specimens taken were frem the Nest Hueces and belew it“s meuth in the main river. Lepemis auritus: yellewbelly sunfish. This species was feund ever all ef the perennial pertien ef the Eueces River, but did net habit the lewer sectien ef the stream, where the river dries te heles. This fish is a very desirable pan fish, and will censtitute a large part ef the fiehermen's "perch string". .s tetal cf 15 spec» imens were taken. Lepemis megaletis: lengear sunfish. This species was feund te be the meet prevalent ef the sunfish. It was feund in 16 cf the 23 cellectiens in beth gill nets and seines. It is an excellent game fish, and.usually respensive te the effedings ef the fishermen'with the apprepriate bait. Eamily Percidae Darters Etheestema lepidumi greenthreat darter. The 16 specimens were feund in all 9. elearer parts ef the river. The dispersien ef this species, generally endemic te spring areas, is prebably due te the same reasens as Dienda.episeepa, spring like eenditiens ever the entire eeurse ef that pertien cf the fleeces, Eerthwest ef Uvalde. Family Ciehlidae Ciehlids Giehlasema eyneguttata: Hie Grands pereh. This pugnaeieus fish has pepulated the entire river. It is suspected that the Ric Grands perch was intreduced abeut lgefi'ehen they'uere widely distributed by the U. 3. Fish Cultural Statics at San Harces, Texas. This fish effers geed sperting pessibilities and very edible flesh.when cerrectly prepared. Their tendency te ever pepulate a stream.eften causes them te be a detriment te ether fish. fl.tetal cf 261 specimens HEIE taken, but the 213 spec- imens cellected at Statien 2 was a pertien cf a spawn and dees net indicate the relative abundance in that area ef the stream. The fellewing list cf fish species were net cellected but the fish are ef prebable eecurrenee in the River: Carpiedes caflie River Carpsucker Cflrinus caflie Carp Dpsepeeedus emilie Pugnese Minnew Hetrepis reseus Central Whed Shiner hetrepis deliciesus San Shiner Piledictus elivaris Flathead Catfish Anguilla restrata American Eel These fish eeuld pessibly eccur: Deresema petenesis Threadfin Shad Ictalurus lupps Headwater Channel Catfish Ietalurus furcatus Blue Catfish Sehilbeedes mellis Tadpele Hadtcm Pemenis nigremaculatus Black Crappie Hadrepterus scierus Dusky Barter hpledinetus grunniens Fresheater Drum SUHHHRY 1. Father Salas, the first semi—permenant white man in the area, came in an attempt te Christianise the Jumane Indians. This failed, and the area remained the hunting greunds cf the Indians, eith little interference until the eettlement ef San fintenie in 1718. Free this time en, the westward erpansien, with the aid ef several farts, was censtant. The city cf Uvalde near the finesse River, was settled in 1856. 2. The fleeces is in tee bietic previnees in this regien; the Balcenes, where the river is typical ef spring and clear, swift water, and the Tamaulipan where the river dries te heles, caused by the pereusness ef the Edwards limestene euterepping just nerflief the highway 90 cressing, ever which the river creases. The west Hueees, the majer tributary, effers little er ne water exeept runeff frem rains. 3. Hater.Ana1ysis were run at 17 cf the 25 statiens. Ne abnermal er detri- mental cenditiens were feund. Little pelutien ef censequence eccurs en the fleeces River. 10. h. The principal use ef the land is gracing, which in the recent draught years, has been severely everdene. In.many instances the bare rechy seil has ne cever whatseever, thereby, aggravating the severity ef the fleeds which are net unusual te the area. a small smeunt ef land is cultivated near the river where the 22 inch annual rainfall is supplemented by irrigatien frem the river. The irrigatien, at this time, is net cf a sufficient magnitude te be detrimental te aquatic life. 5. At the beginning ef the survey the aquatic plants were numereus,.mainly ceentail (Ceratephyllum demersum) , muskgrass (Chara malaria) and water milfeil (mgphyllmn heterephylltmi! . During the survey a. fleed eccurred which temporarily remeved a large majerity cf the aquatic plants cf the river. 6. The river is accesible in mest areas if permissien frem the land ewner is ebtained and his preperty'respected. In seme cases the fishing priviledges are included with the hunting lease. 7. A tetal cf 26 species frem 10 families were cellected frem 2G seining statiens and 3 gill net sets.