Restoration of American shad Alosa sapidissima populations in the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, USA

Brown, J. Jed; Pierre, Richard A. St.

doi:10.1109/oceans.2001.968746

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Both rivers have structures to pass fish upstream, but their effectiveness is uncertain. The Pennsylvania Fish Commission began operating the Van Dyke Hatchery in 1976, and by 2001, fish counts at the lowermost dam on the Susquehanna River grew from only a few hundred to over 200,000 fish (Brown and St. Pierre 2001). Although the Susquehanna and James rivers are comparable in some respects, stocking intensity on the Susquehanna River does not mirror that of the James River stocking and sampling techniques for returning adults are different.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Hatchery‐Produced Returns of American Shad in the James River, Virginia

McGrath

Watkins

Magee

et al. 2022

N American J Fish Manag

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American Shad Alosa sapidissima is an anadromous clupeid that once supported a robust fishery but has declined drastically throughout its native range due to overfishing, dam proliferation, and poor water quality. A hatchery program on the James River in Virginia was introduced in 1992 to support the recovery of stocks. Following a moratorium of the fishery enacted in 1994, a fisheries-independent survey was initiated in 1998 to monitor the population recovery efforts and status of American Shad stocks in Virginia. This paper examined 22 years of monitoring data for the James River and determined the effect of hatchery inputs on the James River stock of American Shad. The spawning stock index increased from 2.57 in 1998 to a peak of 9.33 in 2003 but has generally been declining since and has been at very low levels in most recent years. The hatchery prevalence for female American Shad (i.e., the percentage of fish derived from the hatchery) ranged between 3.6% and 60.5%. Years with higher spawning stock index values were significantly correlated to higher percentages of hatchery fish returning to spawn. The stock-recruitment relationship was best explained by the Ricker model, which had the lowest residual standard error and Akaike information criterion value. A threshold level of hatchery-released individuals (approximately 4 million larvae) was necessary to achieve the highest numbers of returning spawners, but stocking above 7 million larvae correlated with declining returns. Long-term monitoring of the James River American Shad spawning population allowed for the critical examination of the contribution of hatchery individuals to the yearly spawning run and the relative success rate of each hatchery year-class. From these data, we consider that the James River spawning stock of American Shad was dependent upon hatchery inputs, with ideal hatchery returns occurring during years of moderate levels of hatchery stocking.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Hatchery‐Produced Returns of American Shad in the James River, Virginia

McGrath

Watkins

Magee

et al. 2022

N American J Fish Manag

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“…Moreover, the habitat into which animals are released must provide adequate resources for continued seasonal use. For instance, American shad ( Alosa sapidissima ) introduced into high‐quality breeding grounds above dams consistently returned to their release sites each year (Figure 1; Brown & Pierre, 2001), whereas giant kokopu ( Galaxias argenteus ) released into a stream with suboptimal water flow moved to other drainages rather than reestablishing historic migrations in the release area (Soorae, 2016).…”

Section: Effective Means Of Restoring Lost Migrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a new framework for restoring lost wildlife migrations

Barker

Scoyoc

et al. 2021

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Global declines in wildlife migrations have prompted new initiatives to conserve remaining migratory behaviors. However, many migrations have already been lost. Important attempts have been made to recover extirpated migrations, and our understanding of restoration remains narrowly confined to these particular species and landscapes. Here, we examine diverse restoration efforts through the unifying lens of behavioral ecology to draw broader inferences regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of restoring lost migrations. First, we synthesize recent research advances that illuminate key roles of exploration, learning, and adaptation in migratory behavior. Then, we review case studies to identify common themes of restoration success across four major vertebrate groups: fish, birds, mammals, and herpetofauna. We describe three broad strategies to effectively restore lost migrations: reestablishing migratory populations, recovering migratory habitats, and reviving migratory behavior itself. To guide conservation and research efforts, we link these strategies with specific management techniques, and we explore the biological mechanisms underpinning the success of each. Our work reveals a previously underappreciated potential for restoring lost migrations in terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates, and it provides guidance on whether and how conservation practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can work to restore the valuable migrations we have lost.

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“…No spawning run has been subjected to more extensive stocking pressure than the Susquehanna River. Since 1971, this population has been supplemented with over 449 million American shad eggs or larvae from several East Coast rivers, including the Hudson and Delaware rivers (Brown and St. Pierre 2001;Hendricks 2003). Additionally, 33,000 prespawn adults from the Hudson and Connecticut rivers were transplanted to the Susquehanna River between 1980 and 1987 (Hendricks 2003).…”

Section: Effects Of Stocking On American Shadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alosine Restoration in the 21st Century: Challenging the Status Quo

Hasselman

Limburg

2012

Mar Coast Fish

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Despite the expenditure of millions of dollars on restoration efforts for depleted North American stocks of alosine fishes, rangewide abundance levels for multiple species have declined to historic lows. Stocking practices aimed at rebuilding spawning runs are deemed successful when numerical abundance levels are shown to increase in response. However, these practices may only yield short‐term gains in abundance at the ultimate expense of population genetic integrity and do not ensure the long‐term persistence and evolutionary potential of a species. Although molecular methods are now widely employed in fisheries management and provide a suite of powerful management tools, these approaches have not been well integrated into alosine management strategies. We review the net effects of stocking practices on population genetic integrity and species’ long‐term persistence as it is currently understood and highlight what is known in this regard for alosines in North America, with particular focus on American shad Alosa sapidissima. We find that stocking practices carry a substantial risk to the persistence of genetically distinct alosine spawning populations and suggest that future restoration efforts proceed by providing access to historical spawning grounds, either through dam removal or through providing effective fish passage, followed by natural recolonization of reclaimed habitat. We also identify important areas of research relevant to future alosine restoration that require exploration and identify recent developments that may alter future restoration decisions in an adaptive management framework. Received March 18, 2011; accepted October 6, 2011

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Restoration of American shad Alosa sapidissima populations in the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, USA

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Patterns of Hatchery‐Produced Returns of American Shad in the James River, Virginia

Patterns of Hatchery‐Produced Returns of American Shad in the James River, Virginia

Toward a new framework for restoring lost wildlife migrations

Alosine Restoration in the 21st Century: Challenging the Status Quo

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