A University of California (UC) study has found that U.S.’ reservoirs such as artificial dams hold 7.6 billion pounds of fish. 

In other words, these underutilized dams have nearly as much fish as the total yearly commercial landings in the United States. In 2020, for instance, fishermen caught 8.4 billion pounds of fish in commercial fisheries such as the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

According to the original report on the journal Nature on April 24, 3.5 billion kg of fish lie underutilized in national reservoirs.

In surveying 301 artificial reservoirs, UC researchers consulted historical data from the U.S. Army corps of Engineers dating from the 1970s.

Southern U.S.’ Reservoirs Have Most Fish

The study finds that southern reservoirs have the bulk of fish, totaling 1.92 billion kg, equivalent to 4.2 billion pounds.

The other 1.51 billion kg (3.32 billion pounds) of fish come from northern, western and eastern states.

Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma and South Dakota lead with average 100 million kg or 220 million pounds of fish apiece.

However it is Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Alabama and Indiana that harbor the most fish per capita. The per capita measure indicates the average fish population per the size of the reservoir area.

How Many Reservoirs are in the U.S.?

The above 301 reservoirs represent only a fraction of freshwater sources in the United States that include lakes and natural watersheds.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. has 2700 reservoirs, featuring lakes less than 5000 acre-feet.

Of this number, 50,000 are between 50 and 5000 acre-feet in storage capacity and are either artificial or natural. 

Besides these reservoirs, homes around the United States have dug around 2 million ponds. 

Though not all watersheds harbor fish, they nevertheless show the underutilized fish volumes that U.S.’ reservoirs could be hiding. Their discovery could help expand fishing in the country. They could also lower  average fish fillet prices and increase the yearly quotas that fishermen can catch each year.