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Suspended silt and clays particulates affect the fishery in two direct ways, plus probably also in other secondary and tertiary ways.
1. Depending on the amount or concentration of silt-clay it interferes with the movement of dissolved oxygen through the gills into the blood stream. Developing fish eggs need high amounts of dissolved oxygen passing through the outer egg membrane for the embryo to continue development especially when the embryo is very close to hatching and more oxygen is required. Sedimentations of silt/clay onto eggs will collect around the egg and suffocate them. High silt concentrations also probably contain more fungus spores which grow on or among eggs to kill them. Proper oxygen absorption for health and swimming strength is very important for new delicate fish fry that have to continually search for tiny foods in the water column. This is definitely more problematic for delicate fish fry compared to older fish which have more body mass as 1.5"+ individuals. The larger a fish the longer it can survive without eating. In searching for food, these tiny fry (1/4"-1/3") in high silt conditions have to encounter and deal with silt-clay particles and then selectively distinguish them from food particles.

2. Suspended silt/clay reduces the amount of sunlight that penetrates the water column. Sunlight is necessary for both the suspended phytoplankton and attached micro-algae (periphyton) communities to grow. They will not grow a lot deeper than the depth of light penetration. So shallow sunlight penetration of 6" to 12" forces fish fry to forage and grow in areas around a 1 to 3 feet below the surface; again depending on the concentration of silt/clay. Plus these fry sized foods can be very limited because the silt-clay is taking up the space in the water column and interfering with plankton rather the water column being primarily food particles comprised of algae or zooplankton. The part of the pond below light penetration is essentially a food desert for fish fry. With high concentrations of silt-clay, the food base in the pond is significantly reduced or restricted.

Micro-algae feed the zooplankton as the next first level of the animal foods in the pond or food chain. Lack of food production has a direct affect in how many fish fry will survive since they first require some micro-algae and very soon tiny zooplankton for survival and growth. Late stage fry eat larger zooplankton. New fish fry basically have NO food reserves in terms of body deposits, so they need to eat almost continually to survive and grow. Without eating almost continually they die. So the more silt-clay is present the less usable fry food is present per unit volume of water. Often many fish fry starve in the first few days or weeks when not enough of the correct foods are present at the right time when it is needed.