October 4-6 collecting fish for Pigeon River project

Hello folks,

It's that time of year again to move some fish to the Pigeon River! We are planning to work October 4-6. Barring any bad weather or high water we will meet at the back of the McDonalds parking lot off of Hwy 25 in Biltmore (accessible from exit 50 from I-40, head North on US25, across from the Biltmore Estate entrance) October 4, at 9 am. We will attempt to collect Gilt darters, Banded darters, and TN shiners from the Swannanoa River. The following day, we will work the French Broad and Spring Creek in Hot Springs, for Highland shiners and Banded darters. The third day we'll plan to collect Mirror shiners upstream of Canton at the park.

As in the past, the majority of work is involved with collecting, tagging, and counting the fish at the source site. You don't necessarily have to come and get in the water, there is plenty of work to do on the bank. This year we will need help tagging darters. Following collections we will release the fish the same day in the Pigeon River at various sites downstream of Clyde, NC.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me; please let me know if you plan on attending. Also, please forward this email onto anyone interested in helping. If weather changes plans I will be in touch; we will move the translocations down in the week or possibly later in October.

Thanks



TR



William T. Russ II

Western Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Biologist

NC Wildlife Resources Commission

645 Fish Hatchery Road

Marion, NC 28752

Office: (828) 659-3324 x228

Cell: (828) 777-0495

Email: thomas.russ@ncwildlife.org

www.ncwildlife.org

Got this email.

Might go help.

If it were a weekend, I think I would go. I don't have the vac. days to get off during the week.

I agree; this event is completely impossible for me to attend because it was scheduled Tuesday-Thursday.

I will pass this along. I am getting involved in this project, and one thing I'm sensitive to is that most volunteers can't do it when it's most convenient for the project team They may be okay with this "issue", and there's nothing wrong with that... But if they want people to participate (and this is a very general "They", not necessarily the Pigeon folks), "they" need to have it when people have to make less sacrifice to be there.

However, I will say.... This is a GREAT project, and if you can talk a boss into allowing you to spend time as a volunteer on behalf of your company (many companies will go for this because they can write off the time), it is worth your time investigating.

Todd

If I go tomorrow I will post a report.

They are doing this over several days but I will probably only be able to go the 1st day in Asheville.

This the first time the NCWRC is serious about reintroducing non game species back to an area (Pigeon River) they have been eliminated.

So far its been mostly successful over the past few years. Others folks probably know a lot more.

Edited by Gambusia, 03 October 2011 - 07:18 PM.

Back from helping collect fish.

There are two projects going on.

One is to collect fish for the Pigeon River in NC upstream of Waterville Lake.

The other is to collect fish for Richland Creek upstream of Lake Junaluska which is a tributary stream of the Pigeon River in Waynesville NC.

We collected in the Swannanoa River next to the entrance to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

Focus fishes were: Tennessee shiners, bigeye chubs,warpaint shiner, fantail darters, gilt darters and banded darters.

We also sampled stonerollers, redline darters, swanannoa darters, whitetail shiners, one silver shiner and northern hogsuckers and one smallmouth bass.

Sorry no pictures except one of a smallmouth bass I might post later.

I will be unable to attend the sampling tomorrow at Hot Springs.

Do you have lists of what fish species were left in these two degraded streams prior to WRC's re-introduction efforts?

Actually I have no idea. Good question.

I am sure Mr Russ would and his email address is in the OP.

I know they also want to go after and reintroduce bigger species like golden redhorses but that will not be in the near future.

Edited by Gambusia, 04 October 2011 - 09:52 PM.