Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Early Life History Of Yellow Perch In Eastern South Dakota Lakes, Shannon Fisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Yellow perch Perea flavescens are a popular South Dakota sportfish; however, inconsistent recruitment creates highly variable and unpredictable perch fishery quality. Before fishery managers can begin to develop and assess strategies to stabilize yellow perch recruitment, a better understanding of their early life history is required. I selected two natural lakes with differing yellow perch population types and monitored brood stock, spawning habits, and larval and juvenile life history patterns during 1995 and 1996. Pelican Lake was selected as a representative yellow perch population exhibiting inconsistent recruitment and Pickerel Lake as a population with relatively consistent recruitment. Yellow perch tended …