L. ALLEN WEAVER, Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries, 12108 Washington Highway, Ashland, Virginia 23005, USA

Anadromous fishes, such as American shad Alosa sapidissima, are important to Virginia for both commercial and recreational use. Unfortunate stock declines may be partly attributed to numerous dams that have blocked access to historical spawning grounds in the Chesapeake Bay drainage since the 1700's, and increased commercial harvest during the 1970's. Restoration efforts consist of three areas; 1) fish passage, 2) stocking "new" waters, and 3) commercial harvest restriction. Virginia's Fish Passage Program is supported by matching grants from the EPA/NOAA for coordination, design and construction of fishways. USFWS engineers provide technical support for passage projects. Since 1989, six fishways were completed on Bay tributaries in Virginia reopening 47.3 miles of spawning habitat. Current projects include Boshers Dam (137.4 miles) on the James River and Ruffins Dam (8 miles) on Massaponax Creek. Future projects include Embrey Dam (82.3 miles) on the Rappahannock River. Relative abundance assessments (electrofishing) of spawning runs are made each spring at several locations. Restocking efforts are concentrated above Boshers Dam on the James River in anticipation of fishway construction. In 1996, approximately 4,800 pre-spawn blueback herring A. aestivalis from the Chickahominy River and 5.5 million American shad fry from the King and Queen State Hatchery were stocked in the James River above Boshers Dam. Spawning success of herring and shad fry survival were documented by electrofishing and pushnetting above Boshers Dam during summer and fall. Average CPUE for shad juveniles was 31.5/hr for pushnet samples and 6.2/hr for electrofishing. Average CPUE for herring juveniles was 0.4/hr for electrofishing. Shad juveniles collected above Boshers Dam displayed the oxytetracycline mark received on their otoliths while in the hatchery.