American Shad in the Potomac River George Mason University, Potomac Environmental Research Center Ma

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American Shad in the Potomac RiverGeorge Mason
University, Potomac Environmental Research
CenterMarch 25, 2008by Jim Cummins, The
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
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Fishway location
10 miles / 1,000 acres opened by fishway
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Virginia The two dams at
Little Falls Maryland
(Private) (US COE/District of
Columbia/National Park Service)
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THE POTOMAC RIVER AMERICAN SHAD RESTORATION
PROJECT from a mass of molten silver to?
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A Shad Planking (Photo by David Owen Hawxhurst)
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Preparing shad and herring, 1800s. (They were
smoked then salted in barrels.)Approx. 2200 are
prepared in the front layer alone. Now thats
a smoker!(From Singer, Charles, et. Al. 1958.
A History of Technology, 1750-1850. Volume IV,
p. 49)
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Traditional Shad Fishery on the Potomac River,
circa 1890s
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The decline was due to overharvest, pollution,
and loss of habitat (primarily dams).
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Virginia The two dams at
Little Falls Maryland
(Private) (US COE/District of
Columbia/National Park Service)
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Little Falls (7/16/99)
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Brookmont Dam at Great Falls, September, 2002,
showing grout bags with Snake Island in
Background
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Fishway uses new design with three labyrinth weirs
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Fishway in Place January 2000
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Providing fish passage alone isnt enough! We
needed to stock fry upstream to imprint them to
the historic waters and help build shad
population. Where to go collect adult brood
fish?Drift Gill-netting for American Shad in
the Potomac River, near the mouth of Dogue Creek,
off of Fort Belvoir and Mount Vernon, VA
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Virginia waterman Louis Harley
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Hundreds of volunteers have helped - many on
damp and chilly nights!
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Thousands of students have raised shad in their
classrooms, many of them have joined us on the
river.
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Hanbin Lee, Waples Mills student and shad pal
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Catching and releasing enthusiasm
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Field strippingof shad eggs. Milt from males is
added and fertilized eggs are delivery to the
USFWSs Harrison Lake Hatchery.
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Dave Petersen, USFWSs Harrison Lake National
Fish Hatchery, loads a new batch. Dave was
instrumental in development of the scaled-down
egg chambers we use.
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Shad Set-up Sligo Creek Elementary, MD Picture
by Charles Gale Teacher -
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Students transfer their eggs into their own
scaled down version of a hatchery.
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After hatching, marking with tetracycline, and
fry (about 1 week old, having nearly finished
using yolk) are stocked back in the Potomac River
at Mather Gorge, near Great Falls.
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Students also release their shad fry near Great
Falls (Old Anglers Inn Put-In).
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Shad Fry. Only those who are good at their jobs
can see them.
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It always helps to send a nice message.
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Ben Symons, a 5th Grader from Westbrook
Elementary School, Montgomery County, Maryland,
at the head table during the October 12, 1999,
dedication ceremony for the fishway. providing
supporting remarks along with Secretary of
Interior Bruce Babbitt, Md. Senator Paul
Sarbanes, Md. Gov. Parris Glendening,
Congresswoman Connie Morella, USCOE Brigadier
General Stephen Rhoades and Col. Bruce Berwick.
Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, May 2007gt
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Students study shad.
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ShadCam by Charles Gale
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Removing dead eggs
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Shad Development - Day 1 Picture by Charles
Gale Teacher - Sligo Creek Elementary School
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Shad Development - Day 2 Picture by Charles
Gale Teacher - Sligo Creek Elementary School
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Shad Development - Day 3 Picture by Charles
Gale Teacher - Sligo Creek Elementary School
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Shad Development - Day 4 Picture by Charles
Gale Teacher - Sligo Creek Elementary School
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Hanbin Lee, Waples Mills student and shad pal
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Monitoring for shad at Great Falls Mike Odom,
USFWS, with one of the first shad captured at
Great Falls after the fishway was opened in
2000.Twenty-nine American shad were captured by
dip-netting at Great Falls in 2004, but there was
a reduced sampling window due to heavy flows. We
can effectively net up to 14,000 cfs, do best at
10,000 cfs, which is the rough mean flow for
April-May, but only about 8 days gave us flows
below 14,000 cfs this year. In 2003, the really
wet year, we only captured 5, but then only had a
couple of days, early in the season, with flows
close to 10,000 cfs. Most of the time it was
above 20,000. A trend was developing during
dryer years, in 2002, we captured 43 at Great
Falls, 12 in 2001, and 3 in 2000 (the first year
the fishway was opened).
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Shore haulseine
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Push-net used for monitoring YOY American shad
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Comparing Push-net Surveys
Prepared by Mike Odom, USFWS
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1998 2005 (ICPRB, USFWS, VDGIF)
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The best way to monitor?
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Source Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission Stock Assessment Report No. 07-01
(Supplement) American Shad Stock Assessment
Report for Peer Review Volume I, pg 138.
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The 1814-18 Potomac landings are only a
representative estimate based on an expansion of
the detailed records of one haul seine fishery
(Chapmans). Numbers of fish were converted to
pounds for the 1832 data, from Joseph Martin
History of Virginia, 1835. The1898-1900 data
come from This Was Potomac by Frederick Tilp,
1978.
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American shad numbers in the Potomac River have
increased to comfort levels. In 2004, the
Potomac River Fisheries Commission obtained
permission to allow stake gill-netters, which
target striped bass, to harvest one bushel of
American shad (which previously were mortality
by-catch). Recreational shad fishing is
growing increasingly popular. I believe that it
is time to open harvest (1 American shad/day) to
anglers on the Potomac River., but we are still
just below an ASMFC administered threshold.
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The American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)
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PiscatoralconcernsIntroduced Bluecats,N.
Snakeheads
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We will be moving on now.
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Shad DartHook    Dai-Riki 930 size Thread 
RedEyes  Silver-Plated DumbbellTail    White
Marabou Body Large mylar, silver side
up.Head  Red Chenille.  Other good colors
include chartreuse and purple.From Steve
Buckner steve_at_northwestflyfisherman.com
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How to tell a hickory shad from an American shad
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