Fall 2023 Newsletter

Guest President’s Message

Happy Fall y’all!  I hope that this message finds you all happy and healthy. The cooler weather signals the beginning of some of my favorite activities, including football (Go Dawgs), chasing Reds at the coast, and getting to hang out with my fish head friends! The 2024 Southern Division meeting is right around the corner and it sounds like the Tennessee folks are gearing up for another fantastic meeting in Chattanooga, TN! Annual meetings are not only a great time for camaraderie, but they are also so important in highlighting the amazing fisheries work that is being done around the southeast. Just like the systems that we work on, our work is connected and these meetings allow for the essential networking that facilitates the protection and promotion of our native fisheries. I might be biased, but SDAFS has some of the best of the best! So mark your calendars for January 31^st – February 4^th, 2024 and hopefully I’ll see you in Tennessee. While you are in the meeting mode, be thinking about how you can help NCAFS bring this awesome meeting to Asheville in 2025!  Please reach out to either myself ([email protected]) or Kelsey Roberts ([email protected]) if you are interested in volunteering to help plan SDAFS 2025. It’s going to be the best one yet!!

Jess

Submitted by Jessica Baumann, SDAFS Vice-President

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Treasurer’s Report

Balances as of September 25, 2023
NCAFS Wells Fargo Checking Account: $4,719.41
NCAFS PayPal Account: $72.82
RRCC Wells Fargo Saving Account: $7,133.28
Edward Jones Ichthus (Student) Fund: $28,640.69
Edward Jones General Fund: $63,401.43

We encourage groups or individuals to apply for project funding! Please fill out this application and send to Kelsey Roberts ([email protected]) by November 1, 2023. Applications will be reviewed, and notification of your application status will be given within 30-45 days of the deadline. Examples of recent projects funded by NCAFS are the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail signage and funding for a student intern to process the Menhinick collection at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

Recent monetary transactions within our chapter include a donation to the Tennessee Chapter for the 2024 SDAFS meeting and a reimbursement from AFS for membership dues. We are looking to hopefully sponsor a few students to attend meetings in the near future!

For any questions regarding meeting minutes, finances, or procedures, please contact Casey Joubert, Secretary/Treasurer for NCAFS ([email protected]).

Casey

Submitted by Casey Joubert, NCAFS Secretary-Treasurer

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Save the Date! NCAFS 2024 Annual Meeting

Please mark your calendar–the NCAFS Annual Meeting is scheduled for February 27-29 at the Clarion Pointe Inn in Sylva, NC. Stay tuned for information regarding registration, the continuing education workshop, and call for abstracts.

Submitted by Luke Etchison

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Shad in the Classroom and Project RESTORE

Shad in the Classroom is now part of Project RESTORE (Rescuing Endangered Species through Outreach, Restoration, and Education). In addition to American Shad, the program focuses on endangered and imperiled species in North Carolina (NC), including the Venus flytrap, Carolina Madtom, Neuse River waterdog, and red wolf. To implement the program, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences (Museum) utilizes multiple strategies and practices to give teachers and students the opportunity to learn about and participate in species restoration.

Some of the cool things NC educators got to participate in was snorkeling cross-section sampling for Carolina Madtoms with Michael Fisk and staff with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and with Jennifer Archambault with US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and using minnow traps to collect the Neuse River Waterdog with Eric Teitsworth, NC State University (NCSU) Graduate Student, and other NCSU students and technicians. Educators also got a chance to measure weights and lengths of these species and observe the collection of DNA and elastomer tagging. Additionally, educators practiced radio telemetry while learning about Red Wolves with Joe Madison with the USFWS and got close and personal (they are tiny!) while learning about the Venus flytrap and other carnivorous plants in North Carolina. Other expert educators involved were Alvin Braswell and Gabriela Hogue with the Museum and Mike Wicker and Dale Suiter with USFWS. Educators will bring all that they learned back to the classroom, and we also plan to work more closely with students and classrooms on some of these species for next season. Additionally, we created learning activities for each species in the program.

Shad in the Classroom was successful again this year reaching 29 classes in 12 counties (Tier 1 – 3, Tier 2 – 2, Tier 3 – 7). The NC Department of Commerce assigns each county to a designation of Tier One (most distressed), Tier Two, or Tier Three (least distressed). This year 1,798 students participated with 507 students being in Tier 1 schools. Elementary schools considered Tier I are those in which at least 40% of the student population has been designated as economically disadvantaged. Middle and high schools considered Tier I are those in which at least 75% of the student population has been designated as economically disadvantaged. Shad in the Classroom and Project RESTORE is available to all educators and students in NC, however, the Program gives priority to applications from these generally underserved schools.

The Shad in the Classroom Program continues to be a success due to its dedicated partners. The program is managed by the Museum and it receives significant logistical and financial support from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP), the NCWRC, the USFWS, and from Triangle Fly Fishers. The NCSU Student Fisheries Society and the Eastern Carolina University (ECU-AFS) student subunit also play significant roles.

The program goals incorporate a “hands-on” approach with raising shad and give the students a strong connection to the fish resource and the river basin. The hands-on approach of these activities allows students to see, touch, and explore various fish species helping to engage the students more fully. Students learn concepts related to the American Shad’s survival, the species’ cultural and biological importance, its ecological connections to other species and habitats, and the significance of genetic integrity. Teachers also integrate various other disciplines into the program including math, social studies, technology, art, literacy, and writing. The program heightens knowledge and awareness in future generations of an important migratory fish.

As always, our Shad schools greatly appreciate the fish anatomy and dissections lessons as one of the most loved activities we offer.  This would not be possible without the many volunteers that donate the fish (Dr. Jim Rice, Dr. Rich Noble, Dr. Phil Doerr, and fellow anglers, and from NCWRC district biologists Seth Mycko and Danci Guiot, and from ECU graduate students, Chase Spicer and Caid Menzel) and the lecture volunteers from NCWRC (Casey G. Joubert and Kelsey Roberts), NCSU (Bethany Wager, Emma Mitchell, and Sean Sullivan), Eastern Carolina University (Andrew McCains, Caid Menzel, Chase Spicer, and Naomi Jainarine) and NC Dept. of Transportation (Anne Burroughs).

We are also grateful to all of our partners and to all of the volunteers who help with every aspect of the program — from the collection and husbandry of the broodstock and the running of the embryos to the schools, to the fish anatomy and dissection lessons, to the releasing of the larval fish in their natal rivers, and everything in between. We are gearing up for next year and look forward to working with chapter members again for the 2024 Shad in the Classroom Program!

Melissa Dowland, Megan Chesser, and I give a big thank you to all the many volunteers, particularly the NC AFS Chapter and the NCSU and ECU Student Subunits, and NCSU, NCWRC, USFWS, and APNEP, and Triangle Fly Fishers!  If you would like to view the 2023 Final Report just let Danielle know, and if you would like to be involved in the program next year, please contact Danielle at [email protected].

Submitted by Danielle Pender, NCSM Project RESTORE Program Specialist

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Greens Mill Run Sturgeon Relocation

On September 6, 2023, a call was made to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission’s Helpline reporting that an Atlantic Sturgeon approximately four feet long was stranded in a small tributary of the Tar River in downtown Greenville, NC. Human Wildlife Interactions Biologist Kristin Cathey referred the call along with photos to District 2 Fisheries Staff for investigation and follow up. Coastal Region Supervisor Ben Ricks proceeded to Green Springs Park to locate the fish, assess water quality and contact partner agencies to formulate a plan for relocation of this Federally Endangered fish. Upon determining that water quality and environmental conditions were temporarily suitable for the fish, a relocation team was formed. On Friday, September 8, 2023, a team from the University of North Carolina Wilmington led by Fred Scharf, in addition to Fritz Rohde (NOAA Fisheries), Officer Haywood Brantley (NCWRC) and Nick Shaver (NCWRC) met at Green Springs Park to begin the relocation process.

The fish was located within the same area it had initially been reported and was easily trapped using a seine. Once captured it was loaded into a large cooler filled with creek water in order to get it safely to a livewell inside a boat parked nearby.

The fish was determined to be an adult (likely male) measuring 1550 mm FL or approximately 61 inches long. A fin clip was taken for genetic analysis and a section of the secondary pectoral fin ray was removed for aging. A PIT tag was inserted into the fish so that it could be identified if captured again. Once loaded into the boat the crew transported the fish to the nearest boating access located at Town Commons Park in Greenville which was less than 2 miles away where it was safely released into the Tar River. This is only the third Atlantic Sturgeon ever recorded in the Tar River.

Submitted by Ben Ricks

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My Summer with Menhinick

In September of 2022 the Ichthyology Unit of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCSM) rescued Dr. Edward F. Menhinick’s collection of fishes. This wonderful collection formed the basis for his 1991 book “The Freshwater Fishes of North Carolina”. This book is still widely in use. His collection dates back to 1958 and is almost entirely from the freshwaters of North Carolina. Along with the specimens, the museum also acquired Dr. Menhinick’s paper field notes.

Thanks to a generous grant from the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society my position was funded, and we began incorporating this collection in June 2023. We stabilized all of the specimens and digitized Dr. Menhinick’s field notes. This includes his early notebooks containing field notes from the years 1966 to 1976 as well as more detailed field notes spanning from 1975 to 1993. We have also been able to acquire a digital copy of his database which contains information spanning years not found in his field notes.

After specimen stabilization and digitization of his field notes, I began databasing the information associated with the specimens. Along with databasing, I added archival labels to each lot, and they are now housed with the rest of the NCSM collection. Currently, 836 lots totaling 11,223 specimens have been databased and all corresponding data is globally accessible. The goal is to complete this project by the end of this year. My hope is that these data will add to our knowledge of the historical distribution of North Carolina’s fishes.

 

Submitted by Casey Bielefeld

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Spotlight: Meet the leader of the NCSU Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit

I’m excited that North Carolina’s AFS chapter gave me an opportunity to introduce myself to membership. I’m the new Leader of the U.S. Geological Survey North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit based at NC State University where I’m also a fisheries professor. The “NC Coop Unit” is part of a broader program pairing federal and state agencies, NGOs, and universities into cooperative partnerships that create a lot of “win-win” opportunities among all of the organizations involved. NC Coop Unit has a rich history and a simple mission: support natural resources management by 1) conducting applied research on natural resources issues, 2) training future biologists by teaching classes and serving as a graduate adviser at NC State, and 3) providing technical support to natural resources agencies and organizations on issues related to our expertise. Because I pilot the cooperative partnership, I also often end up being a team builder and facilitator among various environmental organizations across the Southeast. It’s a real honor for me to step into the position held by Dr. Tom Kwak, who masterfully led the NC Coop Unit for over two decades and contributed tremendously to the management of North Carolina’s freshwater systems.

Beyond leading the NC Coop Unit, I’m also a Research Fisheries Biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. My research “focus” tends to be broad and is shaped by the varied needs of members of the partnership, but my overarching research interest is conservation of rivers and river-dependent species. General themes of my research program include 1) linkages between landscapes, freshwaters, and freshwater species (fish, crayfish, mussels), 2) monitoring and assessment of freshwater ecosystems, 3) imperiled species management, and 4) natural resources decision-making. In Mississippi where I was before moving to NC, some of my lab’s projects included large-scale telemetry tracking to investigate fish passage of large barriers, developing stocking and monitoring programs for re-introduced species, and developing standardized analytical methods for how the U.S. government evaluates imperilment of fishes and crayfishes across the Southeast under the Endangered Species Act. I’ve worked with over 250 game and non-game fish species in my career, many of which I encountered during my PhD where I developed the fish community sampling protocols for Missouri’s non-wadable rivers. I’ve also worked a lot with North Carolina’s freshwater fishes, having done my master’s research in the New, Roanoke, and Tennessee river systems.

This position also is an opportunity to come home. I grew up in southern Virginia just north of Raleigh and went to college in the mountains at Virginia Tech. Many of my relatives and in-laws live in North Carolina, so I’ve spent a lot of time here. Unsurprisingly, when I get free time, I’m usually somewhere near water – either kayaking, fly-fishing, or both. Free-time is rare these days with a three-year old daughter and one-year old son, but I’m looking forward to when they’re old enough to be my fishing buddies.

Working alongside natural resources professionals is one of the best parts of my job, so hopefully, I’ll have an opportunity to meet most of NC AFS’s membership either through work or chapter activities. In the meantime, I encourage folks to reach out at my NC State email ([email protected]). I’m also happy to field any questions about the NC Coop Unit or the fisheries program at NC State. Membership can learn more about the research projects my group runs or about the NC Coop Unit at the following links:

Lab website: https://dunnfishresearch.weebly.com/

NC Coop Unit website: https://www1.usgs.gov/coopunits/unit/NorthCarolina

Submitted by Corey Dunn

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First Population of Invasive Apple Snails Detected in North Carolina

On September 5, 2023, NCWRC received a report from a private citizen that possible apple snail egg masses had been sighted at several locations along the Lumber River in Lumberton, NC. Photo evidence was submitted to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and in combination with subsequent collections of adults, the ID was confirmed to be the Channeled Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata). This species is native to South America but has been introduced in Europe, Asia, and multiple US states. There is one previous record of apple snails reported from NC to the USGS database, in 1992 in the Dan River basin. No occurrence of these animals have been recorded from that area since then.

NCWRC staff met with the citizen reporter on September 27 and conducted an exploratory paddle of the river upstream of the reported localities to investigate the possible extent of the infestation. Currently, the most upstream location known is approximately halfway between the McNeils Bridge Boating Access Area (BAA) and the Interstate 95 bridge in Lumberton. A high concentration of apple snails and egg masses was observed in Fivemile Branch, a tributary which joins the Lumber from the north at the Interstate 95 bridge crossing. At this time, it is believed that Fivemile Branch is the source for the animals currently in the Lumber River proper. The exact origin of the species’ introduction into this watershed remains unknown.

 

Their grazing habits can cause damage to agricultural crops such as rice, as well as to wild vegetative habitats used by many aquatic species; they have also been observed feeding on amphibian eggs. Additionally, there are human health risks as adult snails can carry rat lungworm, which can infect humans if eaten raw or undercooked, causing potentially fatal disease. The snail’s egg masses also contain a toxin which can cause skin and eye rashes if they contact bare skin.

Apple Snails are most easily recognizable by their distinctive large, bright pink egg clusters, laid on solid surfaces, such as tree trunks, concrete, or other vegetation, above the waterline along the edges of streams, rivers or ponds. When the eggs hatch, the young snails drop into the water, where they grow into fully aquatic adults, reaching two to six inches in size (much larger than any of our native aquatic snails). Female snails lay eggs as often as once a week, which allows populations to grow and spread rapidly once established.

It is prohibited to “transport, purchase, possess or sell any live individuals or stock any private or public waters of North Carolina” any apple snail in the genus Pomacea. If you see a suspected apple snail or an egg mass, please take a photograph and submit the information the NCWRC’s newly launched Aquatic Nuisance Species Reporting Tool. After documenting the location, egg masses can be destroyed by scraping them off into the water with any implement such as a stick or a boat paddle, submerging and suffocating the eggs, but you should avoid touching them with bare skin. Adult snails can be destroyed by crushing or freezing.

Submitted by Brena Jones

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Assessment of DNA from Archival Specimens in the NCSM Ichthyology Collection

Thanks to an award from NCAFS, the Ichthyology Unit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences was able to investigate the status of our fish tissue collection – our most requested resource. The tissue collection predates the purchase of a -80˚C ultracold freezer, and specimens continue to be kept at room temperature in 95% ethanol, though tissue sub-samples are now kept frozen. We assessed the difference in the quantity of DNA extracted between tissues kept in the freezer and those at room temperature from the same set of specimens. Contrary to our expectations, there was no difference in the quantity of DNA extracted between the two groups! These results allow us to extend our existing tissue resources if tissues in the ultracold freezer are expended, which is particularly important for species that are now listed as endangered or of special concern to the state. Our summer intern Ashlee Somol (pictured) learned how to do DNA extractions for this project!

Submitted by Lily Hughes

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Good Work! – Recent Publications by NCAFS Members

NC Aquatic Connectivity Team. 2022. North Carolina Dam Removal Handbook.

Robinson, K. W., and J. M. Rash. 2023. Using catch orientations to identify clusters of North Carolina trout anglers. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 43:984-999.

Torres-Molinari, A., A. C. Engman, K. Pacifici, C. A. Dolloff, B. J. E. Myers, and T. J. Kwak. 2023. Patterns in longitudinal distribution of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) population characteristics in rivers of Puerto Rico. Fisheries Management and Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12645

Wheeler, A. P., K. T. Rachels, and K. J. Dockendorf. 2023. {NCIFD} — An internal R package for a fisheries agency. Fisheries https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10974.

Submitted by the NCAFS Newsletter Review Team

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Stories of Interest

Blewett Falls hydroelectric project
Duke Energy opens American Eel passage

Apple Snails found in NC
Extensive evidence of reproducing population in Lumber River

Tide turns for endangered fish
Roanoke Logperch reintroduced to upper Mayo River

Zebra Mussels found in NC
Population currently confined to a piedmont quarry lake

USFWS Fish of the Week! podcast 
NCAFS alum Gus Engman talks about Puerto Rico’s gobies in S3:E38

Cape Fear Shiner Project
PBS NC’s SciNC program highlights the collaborative effort

American Eels in Puerto Rico
Mature females found in upstream habitats

Everything is destroyed
Fishing with dynamite in Sri Lanka

The Last Fish
A portrait of fisheries management in coastal North Carolina

Paper Mill Closure
NCAFS member Luke Etchison describes rapid increase in Pigeon River fish populations

Proposal to list Green Floater
USFWS accepting comments on proposal to list species as Threatened

Sampling for microplastics
First comprehensive sampling of microplastics in NC rivers

Oregon seeks to recover fish kill damages
Oregon Fish and Wildife seeks $27.6 million from dam operators

Processing the world’s fish
Chinese ethnic minority forced to package seafood sent to US

Smallmouth Bass expansion in Colorado River
Found downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, threaten native fish restoration efforts

Submitted by the NCAFS Newsletter Review Team

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Call to Action!

If you want to contribute, have a story idea or would like us to include something in next quarter’s newsletter, email Kyle Rachels at [email protected] or give him a call at 252-548-4938.

Also, if you want to become more involved with one of the many great NCAFS committees then please check this link for information about each one, contacts, etc., https://nc.fisheries.org/who-we-are/committees/

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Valuable Links

The American Fisheries Society Home Page offers a wealth of links to assist you in your fishy endeavors.  This and archived NCAFS newsletters, along with links, chapter information, and upcoming meetings, can be found here on our own website.