Virginia dam removal

[JSeamans]

I'm reading in today's paper about the removal of the Embrey Dam on the Rappahannock River in VA and the article says it will now be the longest free-flowing river in the Chesapeake watershed.

So does this mean an improvement for our striper stocks? Anyone know the geography and whether our beloved fish travel up that river? I know the removal of the Edwards dam in Maine has resulted in changes in the Kennebec.

[kujo24]

There's actually a lot of interesting information on web about the watershed in general. Check these sites out: http://www.rcc.va.nacdnet.org/rappwatershed.htm
http://www.dcr.state.va.us/sw/rrtrib.htm

I went to Dickinson College in south central, PA and the Chesapeake Bay was a hot topic while I was studying there. I think that the dismantling of any damn is awesome, but in this case I think that there are too many other factors contributing to the degradation of the bay. Things like, non-point pollution, especailly run off from agriculture causing eutrophication (algae blooms), house developments deforesting the land causing sedimentation and a lot more.
The good news, "The removal of Embrey Dam will open up approximately 1,000 miles of habitat to fish swimming upstream from the Chesapeake Bay. Other species that will benefit from the dam removal include hickory shad, blueback herring, alewife and American eels. Secondary beneficiaries to the program include resident game fish such as smallmouth bass that will benefit from the increased food supply provided by the anadromous fish" (http://www.dgif.state.va.us/newsroom/pr-050803-ShadRapp.html). I would say that the increase in spawning area for these bait species can possibly contribute to a healthier stock of Stripers in that area. This is great news. --127-3-

[sandy]

John McPhee does a great job covering dam removals and their effects on fish stocks in one of the chapters of The Founding Fish. I am sure all of the shad fisherman out there have already read it, but I also recommend it for non-shad fishermen. It's a great book with some great history on the ups and downs of shad stocks and the factors (including dams) that affect them.

As far as the Chessy goes, from what I heard in a talk last weekend at the SWE tying show, that striper fishery is in serious trouble. I also heard that a lot of our fish are from the Hudson stock so it might not affect us as much.

[Eric L]

I'm reading in today's paper about the removal of the Embrey Dam on the Rappahannock River in VA and the article says it will now be the longest free-flowing river in the Chesapeake watershed.

So does this mean an improvement for our striper stocks? Anyone know the geography and whether our beloved fish travel up that river? I know the removal of the Edwards dam in Maine has resulted in changes in the Kennebec.

The Rappahannock is a major Chesapeake Bay tributary that supports a large spawning stock of striped bass. The dam in question is in Fredericksburg, which is at the fall line -- where the Piedmont meets the coastal plain. The major spawning grounds for stripers are further downriver from there, so it is unlikely that the new free running section will be heavily utilized by striped bass. It will be used by shad and herring, however. This may possibly have a positive influence on striped bass recruitment since there is at least the appearance of a problem of there being too many stipers in the Bay right now relative to the forage base that supports them.

Regards,

Eric