Saving Seafood

‘Landmark agreement’ reached to restore American shad to Susquehanna

April 26, 2016 — The owners of the Conowingo Dam and the federal government have signed what they call a “landmark agreement” in long-struggling efforts to restore American shad to the Susquehanna River.

The agreement between Exelon Generation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls for up to 100,000 shad and 100,000 river herring to be transported and released to native spawning water above four hydroelectric dams in the Lower Susquehanna, including two in Lancaster County.

The agreement came out of efforts to pressure Exelon to improve the shad’s chances as part of the utility’s quest to obtain a federal license to operate for another 46 years.

Shad was once the iconic fish in the Susquehanna. It was a major food source, an economic driver and a way of life in Lancaster County when they made spawning runs from the Atlantic Ocean.

Read the full story in Lancaster Online

NORTH CAROLINA: Sutton Lake back on fishing track

SUTTON LAKE, N.C. (March 28, 2016) — When the coal-fired power plant at Sutton Lake shut down and its replacement gas-fired plant was under construction, the bass fishing suffered. N.C. Wildlife Commission District 4 Biologist Michael Fisk confirmed that the fish were thin in an interview. “Thin” is laymen’s terminology for relative weight. A fish with a relative weight of 80 is thin for its length while a fish with a relative weight of 100 is in good condition.

“In our most recent sampling, relative weights had recovered,” Fisk said. “It could have been the shad that were usually in the discharge canal in winter were not as abundant, or it could have been another factor.”

Biologists caught 298 bass in their 2015 electro-fishing survey. The largest weighed 5.1 pounds and average length was 12 to 17 inches. Relative weights averaged 87, compared to only 80 in 2014. The catch rate was 71 fish per hour, comparable to 2014. Fisk said the overall fishery was trending upward.

With that in mind, I called Ned Connelly. A couple of years ago, he caught a 10-pound, 3-ounce bass at the lake using a Zara Spook topwater lure.

“It was the fish of a lifetime,” he said. “I took a photo and weighed it before I let it go.”

Read the full story at StarNews Online

MAINE: Costs, fish, property values are factors in the future of 3 Mousam River dams

December 29, 2015 — KENNEBUNK, Maine — A Kennebunk electric utility is weighing whether to remove the three lowest dams on the Mousam River or face potentially costly upgrades to restore fish passage to a river that once hosted large runs of spawning fish.

Trustees at Kennebunk Light & Power District have until March 2017 to decide whether to seek federal relicensing of three dams that the nonprofit utility owns on the Mousam River or propose several alternatives for the facilities. One option under serious consideration – and being pursued by local conservationists and sportsmen – is the removal of some or all three of the dams, including the large Kesslen Dam located in the heart of downtown Kennebunk.

The Mousam River is the only major river system in Maine emptying into the Gulf of Maine that lacks any methods for fish such as American shad, alewives or Atlantic salmon to bypass the dams, effectively blocking them from accessing more than 300 miles of watershed. Removing the three dams would allow the lower 9 miles of the Mousam River to flow freely – although an additional 12 dams remain on the upper stretch of river – and is part of an intense river restoration push in Maine.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald