Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas

"Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas" by W. L. Minckley is a mid-20th century scientific exploration into the fish populations of a specific river area, documented before major environmental changes took place. The study emphasizes the types of fish living in the Big Blue River Basin and how many of each there were, done before a dam was built. The beginning of the publication indicates that the construction of the dam will change the rivers fish populations. It highlights this as a problem that needs to be looked into. The author points out the goal to create a list of the fish in the basin and figure out how well people were able to catch them before the river was blocked. The introduction also talks about the look of the Big Blue River area, provides related research, and gets ready for the more detailed information that comes later.