Distribution of spawning activity by anadromous fishes in an Atlantic slope drainage after removal of a low-head dam

In 1998, the Quaker Neck Dam was removed from the Neuse River near Goldsboro, North Carolina, restoring access to more than 120 km of potential main-stem spawning habitat and 1,488 km of potential tributary spawning habitat to anadromous fishes. We used plankton sampling and standardized electrofishing to examine the extent to which anadromous fishes utilized this restored spawning habitat in 2003 and 2004. Evidence of spawning activity was detected upstream of the former dam site for three anadromous species: American shad Alosa sapidissima, hickory shad A. mediocris, and striped bass Morone saxatilis. The percentages of eggs and larvae collected in the restored upstream habitat were greater in 2003, when spring...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Alosa sapidissima, Carya, Morone, Morone saxatilis, Neuse River, All tags... North America, North Carolina, Pisces, United States, anadromy, dam removal, electrofishing, fish, habitat restoration, instream flow, population distribution, sampling, spawning, spawning ground, Fewer tags