A Fisheries Survey of the Tidal James River, Virginia

Robert Greenlee
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Suffolk, Virginia, phone: (757) 255?2299, fax: (757) 255?0626, e-mail: rgreenlee@dgif.state.va.us

Dean Fowler
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Williamsburg, Virginia, phone: (757) 253-4170, fax: (757) 253-4182, e-mail: dfolwer@dgif.state.va.us

Mark King
Biology Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, phone: (804) 828-1562, e-mail: mking@saturn.vcu.edu

The James River drains portions of four major physiographic provinces of Virginia. The tidal fresh- and brackish-water portions of the River and its tributaries support important fisheries for freshwater species such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and catfish (Ictalurus spp.). In addition, numerous anadromous fish species inhabit the system, including striped bass (Morone saxatilis), American shad (Alosa sapidissima), hickory shad (Alosa mediocris), blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus). Despite the historical and/or present importance of these fisheries, no system-wide survey of fish assemblages had been conducted in these waters prior to 1998. During 1998 and 1999, 45 sites on 24 major tributaries and 27 sites in the tidal mainstem were sampled using electrofishing. At 53 of these sites, samples were taken during each of three seasons: spring, summer, and fall of 1998. The remaining 19 sites were sampled once during either 1998 or 1999. Catch rates for game species, in particular largemouth bass, typically were higher in tributaries than in the mainstem; probably due to differences in habitat quality and availability. Generally, growth rates of game fish were fast compared to those of other Atlantic slope tidal systems. Results related to species composition and relative abundance will be discussed and compared to other tidal systems of the Atlantic Slope.