WHAT: Juvenile robust redhorse will be stocked in the Oconee River as part
of the multi-agency Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee effort.
WHERE: Boat Landing at Oconee River Bridge Crossing on Highway 57.8 miles
East of Toomsboro, (Wilkinson/Washington County line)
WHO: Jimmy Evans, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural
Resources (GADNR) Chris Skelton, Nongame Section, Wildlife Resources
Division, GADNR Greg Looney, Warm Springs Fish Technology Center U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Mike Nichols, The Georgia Power Company.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 23, 2000, 11:00 a.m.
WHY: The robust redhorse (Moxostoma robustum) was first described in 1870
and is believed to have once been common throughout rivers in Georgia and
the Carolinas that flow into the Atlantic Ocean. However, it was rarely
collected until rediscovered in the 1990s in the Oconee River.
Biologists believe that robust redhorse populations declined drastically due
to sedimentation, predation from the non-native flathead catfish and altered
river flows and blocked passage due to construction of dams and reservoirs
along rivers throughout its range.
The most healthy population of robust redhorse presently known is found
along a 50-mile stretch of the Oconee River between Dublin and
Milledgeville. The fish is the largest member of the redhorse sucker family
on the Atlantic slope, reaching a length of 30 inches and weighing 15
pounds.
The Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee was formed in 1995 to determine
why the fish has declined and to restore the species to a sustainable level.
The Committee hopes to recover the species without the need to list it under
the Federal Endangered Species Act. In fact, this project represents an
innovative approach to conserving a species before its listing is required.
The robust redhorse project is a cooperative effort between private and
public entities including The Georgia Power Company, GADNR, USFWS, as well
as other state and federal agencies, hydro-power interests and conservation
groups in Georgia and the Carolinas. ###
Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
North Georgia Field Office
247 South Milledge Ave.
Athens, GA 30605
Phone: 706/613 9493
Fax: 706/613 6059
Contact: Jennifer Koches (843) 727-4707 Ext.19
Kyla Hastie (706) 613-9493 Ext. 36
-- Jay DeLong Olympia, WA
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