Warmwater Streams Committee
Southern Division, American Fisheries Society
Roundtable Discussion - September 9, 2003
Luray, Virginia

Frank Fiss - Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - recently completed smallmouth bass genetics project. Early results show little differences in populations throughout state, awaiting final results. Presented smallmouth bass management plan. Posted on agency website at www.tnwildlife.org under Fisheries page. Asked members to be ready to help Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership Team determine what needs to be done to improve tailwaters in Southeast. Expect surveys to be sent to all state fish and wildlife agencies in Southeast to identify problems with warmwater fisheries. TWRA has a fee in lieu of stream mitigation program.

Dennis Riecke - Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks - Have been stocking largemouth bass in coastal rivers for several years. Research projects at Miss. State Univ. include paddlefish spawning and habitat use in Tenn-Tom Waterway; genetics and population assessment of native strain of walleye in NE Miss. Gear comparison and length & age at maturity of channel catfish in 12 streams statewide. Scenic streams program growing slowly with legislation enacted for tax credits for voluntary conservation easements.

James Vincent - Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation - working in a tailwater fishery; stream rerouted around 1 mile of old channel, working to restore channel - narrowing project, working with COE modeling software HEC-RES; starting a graduate school program on the effects of bridges and crossing on stream geomorphology.

Randy Hyler -Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation - we are currently working towards obtaining water allocations for the lower Illinois River tailwater trout fishery. We are in the process of convincing state senators to include wording in the Water Resource Development Act to accomplish our goal. All water rights are allocated. Power Company is donating water rights.

Paul Balkenbush - Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation - An overview of the importance of streams in Oklahoma was given including information on the biological and human deminsions of these systems. Past research identifying genetically isolated stocks of SMB, describing SMB populations and habitats and identifying the need for long-term stream fisheries information in Oklahoma were discussed. Current challenges of Oklahoma stream management were identified. The history, goals, growth and operational status of the Oklahoma Streams Management Program were presented. Oklahoma's standard stream sampling protocols was described. Description of and empirical support for two new regulations for stream-dwelling SMB that reflect regional differences in SMB stocks was reported. Success of these regulatory controls is ongoing. Several special projects in which Oklahoma's stream management staff are involved were presented including: 1) an assessment of the transfer and movement of genes from Tennessee lake strain SMB from reservoirs into native stream-dwelling SMB stocks that exist in contributing tributaries; 2) recently completed research to determine impacts to native fish communities from stocking non-native rainbow trout into streams; 3) a study to assess the effects of road crossing improvements on local stream bed morphology and fish movement potential; 4) several stream bank stabilization and in-stream habitat improvement projects; and 5) ongoing stream advocacy and education endeavors.

Initiated a safety program for stream program personnel, certified in swiftwater rescue and annual CPR and first aid.

Chris Thomason - South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources - FERC Relicensing. Dept. has a FERC Coordinator, issues are fish passage and water quality, minimum flows. Congress may pass a bill that eliminates comments from state agencies. Working on shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon - telemetry. Trying to do a statewide stream survey- develop protocols for sampling. Last such survey was in 1970's. Assessing stocking of different sizes os smallmouth bass. Flathead catfish populations are increasing.

John Copeland - Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries - National Park Service is trying to designate lower 7.5 miles of the New River into National Wild and Scenic Rivers Program. See smallmouth bass presentations given on Sept. 8, 2003 for scope of stream activities in VA.

Kin Hodges - N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission -FERC relicensing process underway on Roanoke, Catawba, and Yadkin Rivers. Issues being dealt with include improved fish passage and angler access, restoring flows to dewatered sections below dams, and adjusting releases from Roanoke River dams to maximize the spawning success of anadromous populations of shad and striped bass in downstream, free flowing sections of the Roanoke.

We are evaluating our muskie stocking program in the French Broad River located near Asheville. Muskie are endemic to this system but have been largely eliminated from it due to channelization projects and sedimentation problems. For the past several years, all muskie stocked have been tagged with coded wire microtags. We are sampling muskie in the river on a regular basis and checking all fish for the presence of tags to determine what percentage of the population is of hatchery origin.

We are beginning to conduct stock assessments on smallmouth and rock bass populations in the New River in northwestern North Carolina. Future surveys are planned to begin stock assessments on smaller rivers throughout the mountain region.

We are involved with efforts to determine the distribution and impacts of Spring Viremia of Carp Virus (SVCV) on streams within the Dan and Yadkin River basins. SVCV is a virus known to cause mortality among common carp and koi. It is not endemic to the United States, and has largely been an issue in Europe and the UK. An outbreak occurred at a goldfish/koi hatchery in North Carolina in 2002. We have been cooperating with the USFWS to determine the distribution of the virus in the wild in streams adjacent to the infected hatcheries. All wild fish tested during the most recent round of testing in spring 2003 were negative for the virus. Sampling will continue in fall 2003 and spring 2004.

Various projects are underway in the coastal plain to restore populations of anadromous striped bass and American shad. Projects are currently underway in the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear Rivers.

We are also in the process of evaluating a stream restoration project on a warmwater stream located in the foothills of North Carolina. We collected 2 years of 3-pass depletion population estimation data before the restoration took place, and so far we have 1 year of post-restoration data. This may be of interest to others since it's tough to find literature out there documenting the effects of stream restoration projects on fish communities.

NCWR is receiving lots of development permits, trying to start a fish distribution proj. to identify cold versus warmwater fisheries to aid in evaluating permit applications. NCWR has a fee in lieu of stream mitigation program.

Eric Cummins - Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources - KDFWR In-Lieu-Fee Program has collected approximately 4.7 million in mitigation from 404 projects. Seven sites are in various stages of stream restoration efforts.

Restoration (spawning & stocking) of historic white bass fisheries/spawning runs at Barren River & Dewey Reservoirs. Also looking at possible interactions with hybrids and identifying factors governing white bass year classes.

Restoration (spawning & stocking) of native walleye populations in Rockcastle River. Possible telemetry study in the works to determine movement patterns, spawning locations and habitat overlap of the native walleye and Lake Erie strain walleye.

Smallmouth bass genetics work on East KY populations (upper KY river tributaries & Levisa Fork) with intent to establish populations in some Eastern KY reservoirs and in Tug Fork River (fish kill from coal slurry spill in fall of 2000).

Looking to initiate sauger stockings in upper KY River. Had "success" in early '80's, but no evaluation. Want to evaluate stocking efforts this time around

Freshwater mussel propagation facility up and running. Monte McGregor contact person.

KDFWR now has a standardized smallmouth bass sampling/assessment guidelines for streams.

Ed Scott - Tennessee Valley Authority - The National Park Service is contracting with TVA and Conservation Fisheries, Inc. to survey fishes in the Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area (TN-KY), Obed Wild and Scenic River (TN), and Blue Ridge Parkway (NC-VA) parks over the next two years. The goal is to document at least 90 percent of the fish species inhabiting each of the three parks. Several sampling sites have been selected for next spring and summer, and recent surveys conducted by other state and federal agencies will be reviewed for inclusion in the final report to NPS. Upcoming fieldwork next season would be greatly improved with the aid of additional help from state and federal agencies. Several of you will be contacted in the near future to participate in this rare opportunity to work in these parks, and hopefully we'll be able to coordinate our field schedules.

Watts Bar sauger: Tennessee River sauger will be collected in gill nets this winter/spring to determine year class strength to correlate with minimum releases from Watts Bar Dam over the past few years. Because the sauger population was virtually lost during the drought of the late 1980's, minimum flows during April were provided beginning in 1993. In most years a 24-hour, minimum, continuous flow of 8,000 cfs was provided to aid sauger spawning below Watts Bar Dam. During drought years, however, only half that volume was released. It was soon determined that 4,000 cfs did not produce a strong year class, so the minimum flow was raised to 6,000 cfs in recent years. The work next winter/spring will evaluate the adequacy of that flow volume.

I was chosen as TN Chapter AFS president-elect at the spring '03 chapter meeting.

Lake sturgeon update: The lake sturgeon recovery continues in the French Broad and Holston rivers below Douglas and Cherokee dams. To date, approximately 16,000 fish have been released, and 4-5000 more are expected from three federal hatcheries this month. About 1,000 three-year-old fish from Cohutta, GA, were released in May. Fishermen are beginning to report catches from the stocked rivers, as well as the Little Pigeon River, and Ft. Loudoun, Watts Bar, Melton Hill, and Chickamauga reservoirs. The most distant recapture is about 170 miles and two dams downstream from release site. Sturgeon are spreading throughout the upper TN River system and should be more conspicuous to fishermen as they grow larger. Some of the fish are approaching three feet in length by now.

Snail darter update: Snail darter monitoring indicates the species is maintaining populations in several rivers in the upper TN system, and expanding their range. The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing snail darter from the endangered species list, which would be a successful application of the Endangered Species Act.

ROS update: TVA is nearing the completion of the reservoir operations study (ROS) environmental impact statement. In it, TVA considers changes in the way it has operated the reservoir system since 1991, in search of providing increased value to its overall uses. Results of the study should be released by early 2004.

Adjourned at 3:15 p.m.