Spring 2025 Newsletter

President’s Message

Dear Aqua-friends,

I want to thank everyone who was able to make it to our joint meeting with Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society last month in Asheville. It was an incredible meeting, and I think it helped a lot of folks impacted by Hurricane Helene have a temporary escape from the madness and get some great ideas for monitoring impacts in our streams and reservoirs.

I encourage each of you to embrace opportunities to strengthen our connections and expand collaborations within our fisheries community. I am hopeful we will have some significant changes with NCAFS this year that’ll help us expand our engagement with current and future fisheries professionals, so stay tuned.

I hope many of y’all will be able to attend our virtual business meeting on May 9^th so y’all can provide input about some of the potential changes that could happen in the next year or so with the Society. I look forward to working alongside you all in the field and within NCAFS this year.

Luke

Submitted by Luke Etchison, NCAFS President

Treasurer’s Report

Balances as of March 25, 2025
NCAFS Wells Fargo Checking Account: $467.96
SDAFS 2025 Meeting Checking Account: $121,736.83*
NCAFS PayPal Account: $687.47
RRCC Wells Fargo Saving Account: $2,794.33
Edward Jones Ichthus (Student) Fund: $30,519.95
Edward Jones General Fund: $62,394.64

* Final payment to Renaissance Asheville pending

As of March 2025, the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society has a total of 50 NCAFS-only members and 72 NCAFS & AFS-members for a total of 122 active members. Thank you to everyone who paid their dues! Please remember, only current members are eligible to vote in this year’s elections and are eligible for the free parent society membership ($100 value) drawing. Voting closes at midnight May 7, 2025.

The Chapter hosted a very successful Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society meeting February 18-21, 2025 in Asheville, NC. Payments to the hotel are still being finalized so stay tuned for the full summary of meeting expenses and potential profits at the 2025 virtual business meeting on Friday, May 9^th at 9:00 a.m.

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

Submitted by Michael Walter, NCAFS Secretary/Treasurer

2025 NCAFS Officer Elections

Voting for the new NCAFS President-Elect is now open!  We have two great candidates that have been nominated: Seth Mycko and Kyle Rachels.

https://nc.fisheries.org/who-we-are/officers/election-candidates-2025/

Cast your vote at the link above!

You must be an NCAFS member for your vote to count.  This is a good reminder to go ahead and renew your membership for 2025.  Without having a dedicated NCAFS meeting in 2025, I know that renewing your membership is something that can easily fall through the cracks.  The NCAFS Chapter makes extra money if you renew your membership through the Parent Society, which I recommend doing since you get lots of extra benefits.

Every NCAFS member in good standing who casts a vote for President-Elect will be entered in a drawing for a 2025 Parent Society membership ($100 value).

Results will be announced at the 2025 NCAFS Business Meeting on Friday, May 9^th, 9:00am.

Submitted by Tom Fox, NCAFS President-Elect

F1 Largemouth Bass Experimental Stocking and Surveying Continues in Piedmont Lakes

Seth Mycko (l) and David Belkoski (r) stocking fingerling F1 Largemouth Bass at Jordan Lake. Photo credit: Danci Guiot

The F1 Largemouth Bass project started in 2020 by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is ramping up for another year of surveys and stocking. This year, biologists are collecting genetic samples from Largemouth Bass tournaments to examine the prevalence of F1s being captured by anglers. The F1s are of hybrid origin between Largemouth Bass, Micropterus nigricans, and Florida Bass, M. salmoides.

The goals of the F1 Largemouth Bass stocking program are to evaluate the persistence, growth, and quality of stocked F1 Largemouth Bass across three Piedmont reservoirs (Lake Norman, Lake Gaston, and Jordan Lake). Results from this project will help to determine if F1 Largemouth Bass exhibit hybrid vigor (i.e., faster growth) allowing them to potentially compete with invasive Alabama Bass that are present in two of the stocked lakes (lakes Norman and Gaston). The hope is that the hybrid vigor of the F1s will allow them to grow faster and obtain larger sizes than the resident Largemouth Bass, resulting in an increased quantity of trophy Largemouth Bass in stocked reservoirs.

Tournament collections will occur this spring at Lake Norman and electrofishing surveys and stockings will continue at all lakes this spring and summer. For more information on the project please visit https://www.ncwildlife.gov/fishing/hatcheries-and-stocking/f1-stocking-program-overview.

Troy Thompson (l) and Casey Joubert (r) weigh, measure, fin clip, and PIT tag a Largemouth Bass which was brought into a recent tournament weigh-in. Photo credit: Elizabeth Mycko

Submitted by Casey Joubert

NCSU Student Fisheries Society at SDAFS

The North Carolina State University Student Fisheries Society (SFS) subunit took a trip to Asheville, NC for the 2025 Annual Southern Division of American Fisheries Society conference. Our subunit was able to hold a raffle thanks to the generosity of the NCAFS and countless donors across the country. Thanks to these donors and this year’s attendees, we were able to raise approximately $6,000. This was able to cover all expenses for our three graduate and nine undergraduate attendees, organization expenses for the next year, replenishes our funds following NCSU SFS winding back up post-COVID, and will partially help fund our travel to the state chapter meeting next year!

My experience mirrored that of many of our students’ this year – I was nervous about meeting new professionals in my future career field and more importantly communicating with them on a professional level. Although this experience was new and overwhelming at first, it ended up being an amazing opportunity to learn more about freshwater and marine fisheries and to connect with so many great people from all over the country in one place. In addition to this, I was also able to build stronger relationships with my peers in the club through our raffle function. This also allowed me to network and expand my resume as well as improve my overall communication skills around my future colleagues.

Thank you to the SDAFS for hosting this event and to NC AFS for hosting such a great conference, and especially Jessica Baumann, Kelsey Roberts, and Michael Walter for their help in coordinating the raffle and helping setup payments.

From left to right: Back: Maylee Holbrook, Erimi Kendrick, Devin Raburn, Kendall Proctor, Trent Ford (co-president), Alannah Anderson, Kay Taggart, and Matthew Maguire. Front: Kendall Redies (treasurer), Leo Kaiser-Potter, Tyler Muller, and Tucker Gaddy (co-president)

Submitted by Kendall Redies and Tyler Muller, NCSU SFS

Good Work! – Recent Publications by NCAFS Members

The fish that wears a feather
Ugiidatli, AKA Sicklefin Redhorse

Albemarle Sound Bassmaster Elite Series
Four-day total just shy of 119 pounds

Impacts to 2025 trout stocking program
Stocking plans modified due to Hurricane Helene

Helene debris removal
Heavy equipment in rivers threaten ESA-listed species

Alabama Bass spread in NC
Expansion includes coastal NC rivers

Great Dismal Swamp
NPS proposes National Heritage Area, seeks comment

Falls Lake fish kill
NCWRC’s Kirk Rundle on the likely cause

The great mussel die-off
Chris Eads and Art Bogan discuss challenges facing mussels

‘Fishing boat slavery’
Bumblebee Tuna accused of human rights abuses in its supply chain

Harassment underreported in Alaska’s fisheries
New study documents high rates among fisheries observers

Impact of tariffs on fishing industries
Consumer costs will increase

NOAA Fisheries
Internal documents suggest agency “should prioritize permitting” and eliminate species recovery and habitat grants

Bluefin Tuna in Nags Head
Rare pier catches of tuna quickly shut down by NOAA