American Shad, Speaker Series with Nate Gray
Channel: Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
Date: 2022-04-14

Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) seventh presentation of their 25th annual Winter Speaker Series, American Shad, features Nate Gray, Fisheries Biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. FOMB’s Winter Speaker Series presentations are again being held via Zoom and are accessible via hyperlink at the top of the FOMB web page: www.fomb.org. This event takes place Wednesday, April 13th, at 7 pm.

American Shad Alosa sapidissima (the species name means “most delicious”) are anadromous fish requiring connectivity between marine and freshwater habitats to complete their lifecycle. They are dark blue to green above with paler sides and a silvery underbelly. Shad are the largest members of the true herring family and can grow to 30 inches in length and weigh over 9 lbs. This species is highly sought after as a sportfish because of their feisty nature and their ability to leap. Almost every major river along the Atlantic seaboard historically supported a spawning population of American shad but their numbers continue to drop.

Historically, populations of American shad supported recreational, subsistence, and commercial fisheries in the Atlantic coastal waters of North America with annual landings ranging in the millions of pounds. Overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss resulting from dams, restricted passage, and human development have reduced populations and subsequently, total landings. Many state and federal agencies have prioritized the management of American shad by supporting research and monitoring programs aimed at conserving and restoring populations.

Author John McPhee wrote an excellent book about shad entitled The Founding Fish. The title alludes in part to a storied (as he makes clear) exceptionally early and prolific run of shad on the Schuylkill River at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778. This supposed sea-run bounty was said to have brought the Continental Army much needed relief in the form of oily protein, thus making possible Washington’s victories that spring. According to the National Park Service, this may in more ways than one, be a bit of a fish story, in that barrels of shad, if delivered at all, were actually brought in from the Potomac because the British had used nets to block seasonal spring fish runs, downstream of Washington’s encampment. No matter their origin or whether they made it to Valley Forge, shad still played an important historical and perhaps pivotal role in the founding of our country.

While many of our waters are cleaner, prolific dams still threaten anadromous fish populations by severing the migration of populations travelling from the ocean to and from freshwater spawning habitats. Dams impose migration delays and can exert other negative effects on survival and fitness. The construction of fishways at dams is one approach used to mitigate obstructions to migrating fish but it is a poor substitute for unimpaired passage, particularly when it comes to a nervous species like shad, reticent to enter fishway structures.