Welcome to the interactive web schedule for the 2019 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference! Please note, this event has passed. To return to the main Conference website, go to: www.midwestfw.org.
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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE UPDATES & CHANGES: As a result of the prolonged government shutdown, we experienced a number of cancellations and changes to the schedule. Cancellations and changes are listed here (as of January 26, 2019).
AUTHORS: Ryan W. Sparks, Cassi J. Moody-Carpenter, Scott Meiners, Robert E. Colombo – Eastern Illinois University
ABSTRACT: The Sangamon River, a tributary to the Illinois River, stretches about 396 kilometers across Central Illinois. The river basin has a dam located in the city of Decatur, IL creating a lake to supply drinking water for the city. Roughly 5 miles downstream of Lake Decatur, the Sanitary District of Decatur releases treated wastewater into the Sangamon River. Furthermore, 2 combined sewer outflows are located above the effluent, they are not treated. Fish were sampled at sites above this point pollution, directly at the source, and several miles below using DC-pulse electrofishing for 3 years. Also, we collected water quality data from 1 site upstream and 5 sites downstream of the Sanitary District. Our results showed high numbers of forage fish, consisting of almost 35 percent of the family Clupeidae and 18 percent Cyprinidae. The next highest abundance was Catostomidae at 30 percent; which displayed a high proportion of abnormal fin morphology. All abnormal fish were found below the point pollution of the wastewater treatment plant. Using Pulse-DC electrofishing, we will continue sampling our sites as well as incorporating mark-recapture methods in different seasons to track movement of fish in relation to the effluent.
