Fish Survey of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Scott, Edwin

This report covers the results of multiyear inventory study of the fishes of BISO conducted from October 2003 to November 2006, including 82 total samples (Table 1). An additional seven snorkel surveys by CFI are included. Goals of this study were to document the occurrence of at least 90 percent of the fish species likely to occur in the park and describe this ichthyofauna in terms of its distribution, habitat usage, and relative abundance. A comprehensive survey approach was used to encompass not only the various aquatic habitat types present (i.e., riffles, runs, and pools), but also various sizes of streams and watersheds throughout the BISO region. Most of the samples were taken within BISO boundaries, but occasionally streams flowing into BISO were taken upstream from park boundaries. Supplemental and comparative information was gained from previous fish surveys in the BISO region (Appendix A). Comiskey and Etnier (1972) cited historic surveys by Kirsch (1893) and Shoup and Payton (1940) during their intensive survey of Big South Fork drainage fishes. More recent studies were conducted by Brazinski (1979) and O’Bara (1982), and state-wide references for Kentucky by Burr and Warren (1986), and Tennessee by Etnier and Starnes (1993, 2001).

Fish Survey of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Collections