RE: NANFA-- hatchery shad vs. hatchery salmon

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus_at_hotmail.com)
Wed, 23 Feb 2000 21:44:42 EST

I know that blueback herring, _Alosa aestivalis_ (I think) and alewife,
_Alosa pseudharengus_, typically spawn every third year and can live as long
as 9 or 10 years. What this usually means is that a river run of herring is
actually three separate populations, each based on a different cyclical use
of the river. The health of different river runs on the Atlantic coast is
directly tied to the health of that river system -- water quality, water
flow, available habitat (pond or freshwater river to spawn in and grow out
in), functional fish ladders around dams (or even better, no dams!). For an
interesting account of one small river's trials and tribulations, check out
the web page of the Parker River Clean Water Association (don't have the URL
at hand...). The Parker runs through Essex County, MA, north of Boston. Its
annual herrin' run is now around 5-10,000 fish/year; as recently as the
1930s it was over 100,000. The exact reason(s) for this decline remain(s)
mysterious.

--Bruce Stallsmith
my own church with signs following, Huntsville, AL

>Are the fish allowed to spawn naturally or are they killed for their eggs
>and sperm? Does anyone know how many times an individual shad will spawn
>in
>the wild (Males? Females?)?
>
>--
>Jay DeLong
>Olympia, WA

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