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An adult American shad
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THE POTOMAC RIVER SHAD RESTORATION PROJECT
Download the full PDF
version of this report with graphs and pictures
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB)
2007
Get your copy of Let the River Run Silver Again!-How One School Helped Return the American Shad to the Potomac River by Sandy Burk.
Learn more about what the schools are doing this year to help the American shad.
Project Status Summary
This project is part of an effort by a coalition of federal, state,
regional and local agencies and nonprofit groups, organized as a
Task Force, to open historic spawning and nursery habitat for native
and anadromous fishes in the Potomac River. An important milestone
for this project was accomplished in January of 2000 with the completion
of the fishway at the Little Falls (Brookmont) Dam by the US Army
Corps of Engineers (USCOE). However, the fishway alone was not all
that was required. Migratory fishes have been excluded from the
ten mile area from Little Falls upstream to Great Falls for over
fifty years and they needed to be re-imprinted to that area to help
them return and use it.
American shad stocks in particular had remained depressed in the
Potomac River, despite significant improvements in water quality
made over the last several decades and a river harvest moratorium
that has been in effect since 1982. The American shad stocking project
began in 1995 and was designed to imprint shad to the historic spawning
and nursery waters and help rebuild Potomac River shad stocks. One
million stocked shad fry was an annual target. In the eight years
of the project over 15.6 million shad fry were stocked into the
Potomac River. Hundreds of volunteers have helped the project, many
of them spending very late-night hours during the springtime collections
of adult brood shad. The Schools-in-Schools partnership with the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, with assistance from the Earth Conservation
Corps' Living Classrooms, the Anacostia Watershed Society and the
Potomac Conservancy, has successfully involved many area schools
and hundreds of students have participated, both on the river and
raising shad fry in the classroom. Through the student's efforts
an estimated 143,000 additional fry have also been released.
The ICPRB assists the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
in monitoring the progress of the project. Springtime monitoring
of the Little Falls fishway has been performed by boat-electrofishing,
gill and dipnets at Mather Gorge, an area approximately one mile
downstream from Great Falls. The numbers of adult American shad
collected at Great Falls has steadily risen; from zero in the four
years prior to the fishway's completion in January 2000, to three
in 2000, fifteen in 2001, and forty-four in 2002. Summer monitoring
for young-of-the-year (YOY) American shad have been conducted in
the tidal freshwater Potomac River since 1997. This survey complements
the Maryland Department of Natural Resources haul seine survey which
has been conducted annually since 1958.
Since this project started in 1995, the number of adult American
shad collected during the Spring brood-stock collections has more
than doubled and the number of fry stocked has tripled. Young-of-the-year
shad have also become substantially more numerous, setting records
in both Maryland and USFWS/ICPRB monitoring surveys (See Figures
1 & 2, Page 4). American shad numbers in the Potomac River should
also be significantly increasing each year for the next seven years
(foreseeable future). The ICPRB and the USFWS have successfully
completed an eight-year American shad stocking program, the fishway
at Little Falls has been constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
and our understanding of the shad in the Potomac River continues
to expand. Interest in angling for American shad is growing rapidly
thanks to a strong public outreach and participation component.
The efforts of the multi-state, multi-agency/organization Little
Falls Task Force are coming to fruition.
Future Needs
The need to monitor and keep track of the restoration progress
still remains. In addition, due to the long time that this fishery
has been closed and changes in tastes since they were abundant,
more education is necessary to restore public interest in this remarkable
fish, not only as a delicious food and exciting gamefish, but also
because of its importance in river and coastal ecosystems and its
significance in the history of this country.
Past Funding Support
Since the project's inception in 1995 it has been supported by
a number of collaborating agencies and organizations including the
Virginia Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, the Maryland Chesapeake
Bay Trust, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program,
Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, and private donations
from members of the Congressional Sportsmens Caucus.
Get Involved
If you are interested in learning more about this project, please
contact Jim Cummins on the
Living Resources team or the Living Classrooms Foundation of the National Capital Region at 202-488-0627.
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