Yellow Perch - Geographic Distribution

Geographic Distribution

Yellow perch is native to North America in the northern region east of the Rocky Mountains including tributaries to the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River. Native distribution was driven by post-glacial melt from the Mississippi River. It has been widely dispersed from its native range. Its distribution to other areas of the eastern US and Canada are due to its popularity as a sport and commercial fish as well as a forage fish for other sport fish species such as bass or walleye. The current native and introduced range in the United States is through northern Missouri to western Pennsylvania to South Carolina and north to Maine. Introduced areas currently have not expanded outside of North America. These introductions were predominately performed by the US Fish Commission in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The non-native dispersal was not as intense in Canada. It was primarily limited to the lakes in the Peace River drainage of British Columbia, but has currently expanded to other bordering areas since.

Yellow perch are commonly found in the littoral zones of both large and small lakes, but also inhabit slow moving rivers and streams, brackish waters, and ponds. Due to human intervention, they are currently found in many man-made lakes, reservoirs, and river impoundments. The perch are most abundant in lakes which may be warm or cool and are extremely productive in smaller sized lakes where they can dominate unless controlled by predation.