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Navigation versus Reservoir Fisheries
Missouri River management by the Corps of Engineers has a great deal to do with the health of the fisheries in Lake Oahe,
Lake Sakakawea and Ft. Peck Reservoir. After studying the managment scenario chart below you will see that drought impacts
on the fisheries has a great deal to do with river managment for navigation. I try to describe the situation in the following
document - click link to download pdf file.
Fisheries versus Navigation
Impacts to Smelt Forage Base
The negative impacts to Lake Sakakawea's smelt forage base from the current drought are evident in the following chart. Numbers
and size of the smelt are both trending down. What will this mean to the walleye and salmon fisheries? Less food equals
less growth.
Corps management impacts to salmon fishery since 1989
The negative and positive impacts to Lake Sakakawea's salmon fishery from the Corps of Engineers' management of Lake Sakakawea
are evident in the chart accessed with the following link. Numbers and size of the salmon caught by anglers are both related
to water levels. The data used to derive these charts originates from the catch reports provided via the annual KFYR salmon
fishing report project. Note that when water levels fall, so does the number and size of salmon caught. When water levels
rise, the quality of our fishery has a long recovery time - 8 to 10 years.
Click here to download pdf file
US Army Corps of Engineers Web Site
Because the US Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of managing the Missouri River system reservoirs you may want to check
their web site frequently. You can jump to it from the following link -
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