Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 www.fish.state.pa.us50

SUMMER 2005

M O S T

M I G H T Y

by Walt Dietz

Which fish would you think of ifyou were asked to imagine oneof Pennsylvania’s mostimportant and interesting fishes?

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Would the popular smallmouth bass come to mind?

Here’s a hint: This fish once had a significant effect on our state andnation’s economy. It still does. And it’s had its share of obstacles overthe years. How about the American shad?

The American shad is one of our state’s most important fishes. It wasonce caught and eaten by Native Americans. Later, an entire fishing in-

dustry thrived around it and it fed manypeople. Is there any wonder why its sci-entific name is Alosa sapidissima, which isLatin for “shad, good to eat”? It’s alsoimportant in the ecosystem as predatorand prey. Today it serves as a greatsportfish for many anglers. And it’s evengood for our state’s outdoor recreationeconomy.

The American shad may not have beenyour first guess to the question aboutPennsylvania’s most important and inter-esting fishes. But you might change yourmind once you take a closer look at thisgreat fish. Read on to learn more aboutthe story of the American shad!

Maybe even the mighty muskellunge? What aboutthe state’s official fish, the brook trout?

illustration-Ted Walke

www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 51

LifeLife CycleCycleThe

AmericanAmericanShadShad

Life CycleAmerican

Shad

of

The American shad belongs to the her-ring family (Genus: Alosa). It is the largest her-ring in North America and can grow up to about24 inches and 6 pounds. It ranges along theAtlantic Coast from Florida all the way to Cana-da. It likes to eat zooplankton, microcrusta-ceans and small fish.

This fish is quite a traveler and has a very in-teresting life cycle. It is anadromous (a-’nad-dro-mus), which in Greek means “up-running.”In other words, the “anadromous” shad migratesupstream from salt water to fresh water tospawn. The shad enters two rivers in our stateby way of the Chesapeake Bay or Delaware Bay.Can you guess which two rivers? See the map ofthe shad’s migration route to find your answer.

Shad make their journey to the rivers in latespring. They spawn at night in shallow areaswhere the water is moving. One shad can release up to 300,000 eggs! Most shaddie after spawning, but some may survive to spawn another day.

After hatching, the little shad fry live in their river nurseries until the next fall,when they start their journey back to the Atlantic Ocean. Check out the life cycleof the shad, if you think you can keep up!

FALL: Juveniles move out to the ocean, joining adults.

WINTER: Juveniles stay in near-shore ocean watersuntil sexual maturity at 3-6 years.

SPRING: Adults migrate to freshwater rivers to spawn, then return to the ocean. SUMMER:

Juveniles use rivers and estuarine waters as nursery areas.

FRESHWATER: 0 ppt (parts per thousand) salinity ESTUARY: 0-30 ppt OCEAN: 30-35 ppt

mature adults3+ years

immature 1 to 3 years

juveniles0 to 1 year

eggsSPAWNING AREA

SHAD/HERRING LIFE CYCLE

ATLANTICOCEAN

MID-ATLANTICSHAD and HERRINGMIGRATIONROUTES

WinterFeeding

AutumnMigration

Sprin

g M

igra

tion

Summer Feeding

ChesapeakeBay

ConnecticutRiver

HudsonRiver

SusquehannaRiver

DelawareRiver

graphics and illustration-Ted Walke

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 www.fish.state.pa.us52

Have the FishALLAmerican shad

and other migratoryfishes have had theirshare of obstacles over the years.These fish were once plentiful in our waterways.

Our waterways also became polluted as our nation grew.Sewage, industrialdischarges, pollutionfrom cities, runofffrom timber harvestingand siltation fromfarms made it hard formigratory fish tosurvive their journey.

Susquehanna Flats, MD 1900

The Native Americansrelied on them as afood source. Fish laterbecame an importantfood source forEuropean settlers whocame to America. Ourtaste for their meatand caviar (eggs) ledto over-fishing, whichled to populationdeclines.

American Shad Timeline(Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers)

1820Small mill damseliminate shad runson the Susquehannato Binghamton, NY.

1830- 1835Construction of canalfeeder dams onSusquehanna River atColumbia, Nanticoke,Shamokin, Clarks Ferryand Duncan’s Island.

1866PA’s first commissioner offisheries appointed. Regulationsrequire fish passage at all dams.Start of five fishways constructedat Columbia with no success atpassing fish.

1873First shadhatcheriesestablished.

1874Poor shadharvest resultson theSusquehanna andeven worse onthe Delaware.

1878Constructionof ColumbiaDam onSusquehannaRiver.

18852.5 million poundsof shad commerciallycaught onSusquehanna RiverFlats (below dams).

archival photos courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 53

Make sure you check out the 2004 Fall PLAY issueon Fishing & History to learn about how NativeAmericans and early settlers caught migratory fish.

One of the biggest obstacles to migratory fishwas building dams. Dams once provided the powerto run mills. Today, they are used to make hydro-electricity or provide recreation.

Dams serve an importantpurpose in our lives, butthey also block migratoryfish from reaching theirspawning grounds.

Dams such as the Conowingo Dam haveconstructed permanent fish passage facilitiesto aid these migratory fish.

Conowingo Dam on theSusquehanna River, 6 miles

below the Pennsylvania/Maryland border.

WHICH WAY DO I GO?

1889Fish basketsand weirseliminatedfromDelawareRiver.

1891Shad catcheson Delawareshow somerecovery.

1904Constructionof York HavenDam onSusquehanna.

1910Construction ofHoltwood Dam onSusquehanna(fishways includedwith no success atpassing shad).

1915Last commercialharvest ofAmerican shadon Susquehanna.

1926ConstructionofConowingoDam onSusquehanna.

1932Constructionof Safe HarborDam onSusquehanna.

1947-1963Restorationstudies began.

1970PA FishCommission,electric utilitiesand federalgovernmentagree onrestoration plan.

ConowingoDam

photos-PECO

Energy

illustration-Ted Walke; photo-Vic Attardo

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 www.fish.state.pa.us54

We can probably thank the American shad for the Fish & BoatCommission’s existence today. Our agency was started in 1866to address the declines of shad populations. There wasn’t muchsuccess in the early years. But shad restoration is much differ-ent today. And it works, thanks to the efforts of the Commis-sion, electric utilities and other groups.

We are able to help American shad in several different ways.One is the agreement that state and federal agencies have onregulations. These regulations restrict the harvest of Americanshad and other migratory fish in the rivers, bays and ocean.

We have programs in place to restore stream and river habitatand remove dams that block fish passage.

SUCCESSFULUCCESSFULHADADTORYORY

a Shad fry

At left, water from above the dam attracts fish into thefish lift. A gate closes and crowds the fish over a bucket,which lifts the fish, in water, and releases them into thechannel at a level above the dam.

The fish lift at Safe Harbor Dam began operation in1997. This fish lift, like Conowingo Dam’s lift, passesmigrating fish directly into the pool above the dam.

UPUPUPUPUP

UPUPUPUPUP

UPUPUPUPUP

andandandandand

AAAAAWWWWWAAAAAYYYYY

American Shad Timeline(Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers) continued

1972Construction ofConowingo fishlift completed.

1971-1974124 million shadeggs transplanted.

1976Susquehanna RiverAnadromous FishRestorationCommittee(SRAFRC) formed.

1972-19807 million shad frystocked in JuniataRiver.

1980Shad fishingclosed on allMaryland watersof the Chesa-peake Bay.

1981750 Americanshad countedat ConowingoDam.

1985-1994150,000 adult shad releasedto spawn above dams onSusquehanna. 100,000 shadfry released intoSusquehanna.

Viewingwindow

Safe Harbor Dam photos-Ted Walke

photo-Russ Gettig

www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 55

Regulations also require utilities (the damowners) to provide fish passage at each damthat cannot be removed. These utilities havebuilt fishways, elevators or lifts that help trans-port fish over the dam so they can continuetheir upstream migration. All four of the bighydroelectric dams on the lower SusquehannaRiver have fish elevators or lifts.

Finally, the Commission restocks fryand migrating adults to areas abovethe dams so that they can reach theirspawning areas. The shad fry comefrom eggs that are taken from adultshad and raised in a hatchery.

Flow

Flow

FishwayExit

FishwayEntrance

• Slope usually 10%• Variable water levels readily accommodated

Fish & Boat Commissionpersonnel release 21-day-oldinch-long shad fry into the JuniataRiver at Millerstown, Perry County.The Commission raises 10 million to20 million shad fry annually for stocking.Raising shad and stocking them above block-ages is currently a major part of restoration.

Fishwaysconstructed on

barriers (seegraphic) are

called ladders.Migrating fish

swim up theladders at their

own pace toreach upstream

spawninghabitat.

THANKSFOR THE LIFT!

199015,000 Americanshad counted atConowingo Dam.

1995Holtwoodfishpassagecompleted.

1997Safe Harborfishpassagecompleted.

2000York Havenfishpassagecompleted.

2001193,574 Americanshad counted atConowingo dam, anew record!

American shad have quite a story.Now you might agree that they arePennsylvania’s most important andinteresting fishes.

2001

DCNR agrees to provide fishpassage at inflatable dam inSunbury.

2003125,135American shadcounted atConowingodam.

photo-Mike Hendricks

photo-U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

graphic and illustration-Ted Walke

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • July-August 2005 www.fish.state.pa.us56

American shad aren’t theonly fish that migrate upand down Pennsylvania’s wa-terways. You might be sur-prised to learn how many fish movebetween the Atlantic Ocean and ourstate’s waterways. One fish even doesit in reverse!

Gizzard shad (Dorosoma ce-pedianum). This herring is a bit

different from the others. It has a mus-cular gizzardlike stomach to processplankton and plant food that it strainsfrom the water.

Hickory shad (Alosa mediocris). This endan-gered shad is slightly smaller than the Americanshad, reaching lengths of around 15 inches. Thisshad prefers to eat small fish.

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). This shad pre-fers to spawn in smaller tributaries and slack water.A “landlocked” form of the alewife has been stockedinto lakes across the state as forage for gamefish.

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis). This fish canlive up to 30 years and reach sizes of 4 feet longand 50 pounds! It spawns near tidal tributaries.Small stripers may move up rivers to feed during thesummer. Landlocked stripers can be found in someof our state’s bigger lakes.

anyore igratory

FFishish

Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis). This her-ring looks like the alewife, but it’s slightly bigger.It migrates to the lower DelawareRiver and Delaware estuary.

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus).This prehistoric fish is endangered. It can reachhuge sizes up to 14 feet long! It migrates to thelower reaches of the Delaware River to spawn.

American eel (Anguilla rostrata). The eel doesthings in reverse. It is catadromous (cat-’tad-dro-mus), which means “down-running.” It spendsmost of its life in fresh water and then migrates tothe Atlantic Ocean’s Sargasso Seato spawn.

Paddlefish (Polyodon spatula). This bizarre-lookingcritter migrates up and down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers in search of plankton to eat.

illustration-Ted Walke

PLAY Newsletter production: editorial-Art Michaels, layout and design-Ted Walke