Migratory Fish Restoration on the Susquehanna River

Date: September 7, 2016 at 7PM

Talk led by Sheila Eyler of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Mid-Atlantic Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office

Resource agencies have been working on restoring migratory fish to the Susquehanna River since the mid-1800s, and those efforts have been met with varying levels of success. Many migratory fish species historically used the Susquehanna River, including American shad, river herring and American eels. Early restoration efforts to provide fish passage were not very successful, but the advancement of fish passage technology led to a renewed interest in restoration on the Susquehanna in the mid-20th century.

Fish passage was ultimately installed at the lower mainstream hydroelectric dams in the 1990s along with other hatchery stocking and trap and transport of adults to result in peak numbers of American shad in the early 2000s, but that has been followed by a steady decline in the past 15 years. We will discuss the possible reasons for the decline and how the resource agencies are working with the dam owners to reinvigorate the restoration program.