Fall 2024 Newsletter

President’s Message

This is the time of year where I am supposed to be talking about Fall sampling, cooling temperatures, and/or meetings on the horizon. For we who live, work, or have loved ones in WNC it’s going to be a tough Fall. Hurricane Helene has taken lives and destroyed or severely damaged many of our roads, homes, streams, and lakes. For many, it’s hard to have a positive outlook at this point, especially for our fisheries. I’m a fish nerd at heart, so when times get tough, I try to think about and relate to the roles, relationships, and responsibilities of different fish species in the recovery of our aquatic ecosystems.

River Chubs (like other Nocomis species) build large mounds for spawning every Spring. These mounds serve as a foundation or point of stability for other species to thrive, whether it’s for foraging (e.g. Smallmouth Bass) or for reproduction (e.g. Tennessee Shiner). They build their mounds in rivers when water levels are high and stable habitat is limited. Without their presence, many species cannot exist let alone thrive. Helene has caused widespread instability of our habitats for humans and aquatic communities, and we have the opportunity to be like a River Chub. We can come together as fisheries biologists and be a point of stability for WNC and help our communities and fisheries thrive again.

Stay safe out there and thank you for your ongoing support of us folks in WNC.

Luke

Submitted by Luke Etchison, NCAFS President

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Treasurer’s Report

Balances as of October 2, 2024
NCAFS Wells Fargo Checking Account: $2,524.11
SDAFS 2025 Meeting Checking Account: $16,817.10
NCAFS PayPal Account: $664.48
RRCC Wells Fargo Saving Account: $2,664.58
Edward Jones Ichthus (Student) Fund: $30,412.07
Edward Jones General Fund: $62,628.65

As of October, 2024, the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society has a total of 77 members. As a reminder, if you register for the North Carolina Chapter through the AFS website, we receive a bonus payout from them. Now is the time to pay your 2025 membership dues!

Fundraising and planning efforts continue for the combined Southern Division and North Carolina American Fisheries Society meeting. To date, $24,710.46 has been raised! Thank you to all our members and organizations who have donated. If you know of any businesses or organizations who would be interested in sponsoring the meeting or donating items for the Student Subunit raffle, please let us know!

For a detailed report of NCAFS finances in 2023, and other chapter information, please reference the 2024 Business Meeting Minutes. For any questions regarding meeting minutes, finances, or procedures, please contact Michael Walter ([email protected])

Submitted by Micheal Walter, NCAFS Secretary-Treasurer

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2025 SDAFS Annual Meeting in Asheville, NC

NCAFS is gearing up to host the 2025 Annual SDAFS Meeting in Asheville from February 18–21 at the Renaissance Hotel! Given the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we are so grateful to support our beloved Asheville community during this conference. We are excited to include locally focused program features including a hatchery-oriented workshop with an off-site tour, a trout symposium, and an offsite Welcome Social at Highland Brewing Company. We are also currently brainstorming ideas on how NCAFS and SDAFS can further support communities impacted by the hurricane. Registration and abstract submission are set to launch by the end of October!

As many of our members will be busy running the SDAFS meeting, the NCAFS business meeting will be held online after the SDAFS meeting concludes. Stay tuned for an online poll to help plan when our online business meeting will occur. We encourage all NCAFS members to consider presenting at SDAFS! Please visit our website for updated information as planning progresses.

If you are a student and are interested in applying to volunteer at the SDAFS meeting in exchange for lodging accommodations, please visit the Student Affairs page of the meeting website. If you have raffle items to donate, please contact NCSU Student Fisheries Society raffle coordinators Devin Raburn ([email protected]) or Tyler Muller ([email protected]).

Hope to see everyone there!

Submitted by Kelsey Roberts and Jess Baumann, 2025 SDAFS Planning Co-Chairs

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Engaging Students with Shad in the Classroom and Project RESTORE

Project RESTORE (Rescuing Endangered Species through Outreach, Restoration, and Education) employs a multiple-species approach focusing on endangered and imperiled species in North Carolina, including American Shad Alosa sapidissima, Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula, Carolina Madtom Noturus furiosus, Neuse River Waterdog Necturus lewisi, and the red wolf Canis rufus. To implement the program, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences (Museum) utilizes multiple practices and strategies to give teachers and students the opportunity to learn about and participate in species restoration.

The Museum has been coordinating the Shad in the Classroom Program since 2011 [pilot started in 2009 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)]. The program has grown to having between 30 and 34 classrooms each year. This year was successful again reaching 31 classes in 15 counties (Tier 1 – 4, Tier 2 – 5, Tier 3 – 6). This year 2,553 students participated with 303 students being in Title 1 schools. Shad in the Classroom and Project RESTORE are 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 North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the USFWS, and from Triangle Fly Fishers. North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the student AFS subunits at NCSU and Eastern Carolina University (ECU) also play significant roles.

A hallmark of this program is that it incorporates a “hands-on” approach with raising shad and gives 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. Many teachers reported that the Shad in the Classroom Program increased their students’ engagement and enthusiasm for science.

Schools in the Program greatly appreciate the fish anatomy and dissection lessons as one of the most loved activities we offer. This would not be possible without the many volunteers who donate the fish (Dr. Jim Rice, Dr. Rich Noble, Dr. Phil Doerr, Pete Campbell, and fellow anglers, NCWRC district biologists Seth Mycko and David Hart, ECU graduate students, Chase Spicer and Andrew McMains) and the lecture volunteers from NCSU (Aly Lynch, Devin Raburn, Emma Mitchell, and Sean Sullivan), Eastern Carolina University (Andrew McMains, Cami Miller, and Chase Spicer) and Catawba River Keeper (Ambar Torres Molinari). This season Dr. Rich Noble and Danielle were able to help T.D. Van Middlesworth, NCWRC, with American Shad and Striped Bass sampling.

NC educators got to experience sampling for the Neuse River Waterdog using minnow traps with Dr. Eric Teitsworth, (grad student at the time with NCSU), and other NCSU students and technicians, and Jennifer Archambault with USFWS. Educators also got a chance to measure weights and lengths of these species and observe the collection of DNA and elastomer tagging. Alvin Braswell, NCMNS, Emeritus Researcher, Herpetology, was on hand to offer expert information and took some of the educators on a tour of the herpetology collection at the museum. Museum Junior Curators also learned about the Neuse River Waterdog from Dr. Eric Teitsworth, about the Carolina Madtom from Michael Fisk, NCWRC, and about the Red Wolf from Melissa Dowland. We filmed the NCWRC release of juvenile and adult broodstock Carolina Madtoms with Micheal Fisk, Mike Walter, and Suzana Morgan. Additionally, Girls in Sciences students learned about the Carolina Madtom. They were scheduled to snorkel sample with the NCWRC, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. Educators also practiced radio telemetry while learning about red wolves with Joe Madison with the USFWS. Educators helped with the physical analysis of a coyote that was captured and then radio collared. Educators learned about NC carnivorous plants and the Venus flytrap in an educator trek weekend, and coastal schools got to raise seedlings in their classroom and then release (plant) Venus flytraps at Carolina Beach State Park. Jesse Anderson, Park Ranger, raised the Venus flytraps from seed and provided the seedling plants to the schools and was essential in helping organize and lead the “release” day. We created learning activities for each of the species in the program and educators will bring all that they learned back to the classroom.

We are very 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 2025 Shad in the Classroom Program and Project RESTORE!

Melissa Dowland, Megan Davis, and I give a big thank you to all the many volunteers, particularly the NCAFS Chapter and the NCSU and ECU Student Subunits, and to the NCWRC, USFWS, APNEP, NCSU, Carolina Beach State Park, and Triangle Fly Fishers for their logistical and financial support! If you would like to view the 2024 Final Reports 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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Field Excursion by the NCSU Student Fisheries Society

On August 31, the NCSU Student Fisheries Society (SFS) hosted a sampling trip for subunit members with the generous help of Bryn Tracy (NCSM affiliate), Gabriela Hogue (NCSM Ichthyology Collections Manager), and Brownyn Williams (NCSM Non-molluscan Invertabrates Research Curator). The goal of the outing was to help students learn more about fish native to Raleigh, as well as practice sampling techniques and field identification of other aquatic biota. Fourteen members, both graduate and undergraduate, attended the outing at Prairie Ridge Ecostation. Students sampled a tributary of Crabtree Creek and used a combination of seine nets, dip nets, and rock flipping to collect and identify seven species of fish, two species of crayfish, and other aquatic invertebrates. Species collected included Largemouth Bass Micropterus nigricans, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculaus, Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus, Rosyside Dace Clinostomous funduloides, Tessellated Darter Etheostoma olmstedi, and Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus. Students were also able to find both species of crayfish inhabiting the creek–the undescribed Species C and the Variable Crayfish Cambarus latimanus. The field sampling was a great way to introduce members to local native aquatic biota and to local fisheries professionals. The Prairie Ridge sampling trip was the first SFS outing of the semester. Over the next few months, SFS will also be hosting an ichthyology workshop, a coastal plain electrofishing trip, and more! We are thrilled to have a large and committed SFS membership this semester and look forward to an action-packed year!

Submitted by Tucker Gaddy, NCSU SFS Treasurer

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Spotlight on Students and Young Professionals: Mason Collins

In May of 2024, Mason Collins joined the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Inland Fisheries Division as the District 2 Assistant Fisheries Biologist. Mason earned his master’s degree from UNC-Wilmington while researching winter migration patterns of Southern Flounder. Prior to joining NCWRC, he worked for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources studying the seasonal movement and distribution of catastomids (including Robust Redhorse) and population distribution of freshwater mussels. He has also worked for the US Forest Service conducting stream surveys in Alaska, worked on a flounder residency project in Mobile Bay with Clemson University, and conducted fish surveys on coastal rivers with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

In his free time Mason is an avid angler and hunter who enjoys the challenges of fly (mountain trout were his first love) and conventional fishing at the coast as well as chasing deer, ducks, and turkey. He is working with TD VanMiddlesworth (D2 Fisheries Biologist) to tackle the challenges of our coastal river fisheries and to make fishing better in District 2.

Submitted by the T. D. VanMiddlesworth

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Thomas J. Kwak Student Travel Award

The 2024 Thomas J. Kwak Student Travel Award was bestowed to Sean Sullivan (NCSU) and Ashley LaRoque (UNC Greensboro) to help them get to the 154th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Honolulu, Hawaii! Sean presented “Recreational angler perspectives on where to vent demersal reef fishes with barotrauma” and Ashley presented her work “Body size and density explain movement patterns in stream fish.” Great work Sean and Ashley!

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Good Work! – Recent Publications by NCAFS Members

Tracy, B.H., F. C. Rohde, M. A. Perkins, L. M. Lee, K. B. Carlson, M. McCutcheon, B. K. Jones, and H. K. Evans. 2024. A Long recognized but undescribed new species of Cyprinella (Cypriniformes: Leuciscidae) from North Carolina and South Carolina, United States. Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings 1:64.