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Brandywine Shad Brochure, 2010

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Brandywine Shad Brochure, 2010 The Brandywine Watershed is one of the What the Conservancy is Doing largest in the Delaware Basin and lies close to the • Facilitating the entire restoration project in close Delaware Estuary. Long before the arrival of European collaboration with project partners and dam owners. settlers, spring migratory runs of 20-30 inch silver shad • Developing plans for fish passages at selected dams. Bringing Back numbered in the tens of thousands here. American shad • Preparing and publishing feasibility studies for restoring were once so numerous that during their migration the American shad to the Brandywine watershed for both the Shad rivers were described as “black and boiling” with the Delaware and Pennsylvania portions. Each study them. identifies the blockages in the Brandywine and provides A vital food source for Native Americans, early potential options for fish passage. The studies also European settlers, and numerous wildlife species, identify possible funding and environmental permitting American shad, like salmon, return to spawn in the issues. Both publications are available on the website stream of their hatching. Their huge numbers and www.brandywineconservancy.org. ‘The Founding Fish’ Painters Thomas Eakins and excellent flavor were once renowned throughout the Howard Pyle depicted shad • Taking the lead to remove two dams on the East Coast. Shad have been nicknamed fishermen at work on the Pennsylvania side of the Brandywine. the “Founding Fish” Delaware River. Pictured • Preparing and distributing presentations and other An Early Industrial Legacy because of the key role above: Thomas Eakins, 1881, Shad Fishing at Gloucester on educational materials about shad restoration and The Brandywine once contained more than 125 dams their abundance played in the Delaware conducting field tours (available upon request). which provided water power for a great variety of early American life. • Working with schools to educate students and release milling operations. In the early 1800s, the du Pont Settlements were named after the fish, and the shadbush “fry” into the Brandywine through the Shad in family began manufacturing gunpowder in Wilmington (Amelanchier spp.) is so named because it blooms when Schools program (see picture below). and the Lukens family began forging steel in shad runs occur in the spring. Shad was eaten fresh and Coatesville along this small but powerful river. The preserved through drying, smoking, pickling or salting. Its Students use classroom tank set- Brandywine River became an industrial millstream, and Latin name (Alosa sapidissima) means “most delicious or ups to hatch fish and learn about the mill dams inadvertently blocked passage for savory herring.” Fishing or trading for shad was so shad ecology and history, left. After hatching eggs in their spawning fish. Thus, today only a few remnant shad widespread in colonial America that it was said that “no classrooms, students release shad swim up to the first dam in family was without its share.” into the river, below. The fry will the Brandywine. We’ve lost imprint on the Brandywine and will try to return in four to six Restoring the unique and an enormous natural, American Shad, a Keystone Species years to spawn. cultural, and economic Restoring shad after an absence of three centuries dramatic phenomenon of migratory legacy. represents a kind of rebirth of the Brandywine River. A healthy shad population will support many wildlife Get Involved shad to the Brandywine species (eggs, fry and adults all provide food), increasing • Organize a slide presentation or A fisherman displays a beautiful the biological vitality of the watershed. River otter, fox, project tour led by the Conservancy. Brandywine shad caught at mink, heron, kingfisher, bald eagle the base of the first dam in • Become a Brandywine Shad Wilmington, Delaware. and osprey populations will likely educator; give slide presentations or increase with the augmented high- lead tours yourself. Let’s Restore this Fascinating Fish protein food supply. • Join the Brandywine Shad A major initiative to restore the shad to the In addition to American shad, Restoration list-serve for regular Brandywine River is underway. Led by the Brandywine other migratory fish will also progress reports and opportunities to get involved. Conservancy with the Brandywine Shad Restoration benefit from improvement to the • Visit the Brandywine Conservancy’s website. Partnership of federal, state, regional, and local river’s flow. Restoring these species stakeholders, the unique and dramatic phenomenon of could create a new type of Brandywine Conservancy migrating and spawning shad is being restored. recreational fishery and engender a fresh excitement in the river. Environmental Management Center P.O. Box 141, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317 Brandywine Conservancy Shad are hard-fighting sport Phone: 610-388-8386 Fax: 610-388-1575 fish growing up to 30” and Email: [email protected] Environmental Management Center eight pounds. Website: www.brandywineconservancy.org ©2010 Brandywine Conservancy Is it Feasible to Restore American Shad The Brandywine Shad Restoration Partnership to the Brandywine? “The Brandywine River is one of our City’s most Yes it is! Each spring shad try to swim up the river but beloved resources. By working together, we can are blocked by dams—about a dozen that obstruct shad re-establish our native migratory fish populations runs on the main stem of the Brandywine and still and thereby provide a healthier, revitalized more on branches and tributaries. For shad to be Brandywine River.” restored as a common fish, more shad will need to be — James M. Baker, Mayor of the City of Wilmington stocked and each dam will require a unique fish passage. Dam removal is the most effective way to “The Brandywine River has been an important part of restore fish runs and is the highest restoration priority. the history of the DuPont Company. The river’s However, it is not possible to remove every dam, str ength provided the power needed to operate the especially those with historical significance or other mills that manufactured DuPont’s first product, black significant benefit to retaining them. Other fish passage powder explosives. Today, we are working with the options include: Brandywine Conservancy in full support of the Shad • fish ladders • rock ramps Restoration Project.” • dam by-pass channels • dam notching — Dr. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, DuPont Company Removing a dam restores a The portion of free-flowing river Partnership and natural habitat, allowing all migratory fish to pass • American Rivers upstream. It can improve • Brandywine water quality and reduce Conservancy flooding caused by a dam. • Brandywine Valley Shad runs once numbered in the tens of millions Association of fish annually and occurred in all accessible East • City of Coast stre ams from southern Canada to Florida. Some fish passageways Wilmington combine a rock ramp with • Delaware Department of Natural Resources a by-pass channel built and Environmental Control around a dam. The rocks An Amazing Journey create pools and small falls, • DuPont After four to six years in the Atlantic Ocean, shad or riffles, that resemble • First State RC&D Council return to spawn in the stream of their hatching and natural habitat features. • Hagley Museum and Library give birth to a new generation. In March or April, shad Dams no longer used • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation congregate in bays and estuaries, adjusting from salt to commercially are often not • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fresh water. They next travel up stream, some of them maintained and eventually • National Resources Conservation Service hundreds of miles, before spawning. A female can breach under the river’s • Partnership for the Delaware Estuary relentless, pounding flow. produce over 100,000 eggs (called “roe,” considered a • Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission delicacy) which hatch in 3-5 days. The young “fry” • Stroud Water Research Center feed on plankton throughout the summer. When fall Notching involves the • Trout Unlimited, Dela ware Chapter rains arrive, these young descend the stream, eventually partial removal of a • University of Delaware, Water Resources Agency moving into the open ocean to begin the cycle anew. dam, lowering the • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service height of the barrier that the fish must pass. This can • West Chester University, Environmental Council increase the success of fish passage and reduce fish passage costs in an unobtrusive way. Notching can also be made temporary by the use of special boards that can be installed or removed seasonally..
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