Michigan Department of Conservation
Research and Development Report No. 64
Institute for Fisheries Research Report No. 1720, 1966

Fish Populations in Five Polluted Streams of Southern Michigan


C. M. Taube and E. E. Schultz


      Biologists of the Institute for Fisheries Research sampled the fish populations in five polluted streams in the summer of 1963 at the request of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) who allocated $6,600 to help defray the expense. The WRC needed information on the fish fauna to supplement other information previously obtained by their investigators.
      The following streams were selected by the Commissioner’s technical staff:
  1. Chippewa River, which originates from various sources in Clare, Osceola, and Mecosta counties, traverses the full breadth of Isabella County, and joins the Pine River about 2 miles west of Midland in Midland County.
  2. Pine River, which rises on the east side of Montcalm County, flows across the northwest quadrant of Gratiot County, and enters the Tittabawassee River at Midland.
  3. Cedar Creek, which begins about 3 miles east of Cedar Springs in north-central Kent County, and flows into the Rouge River about 10 miles southwest of Cedar Springs.
  4. Rogue River, whose sources lie at the south edge of Newaygo County and in northwest Kent County, and which joins the Grand River in central Kent County.
  5. White Pigeon River, which flows northward out of Indiana, thence across the southwest corner of St. Joseph County, and joins the St. Joseph River just above the Indiana border.