Summer 2024 Newsletter
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President’s Message
“I hope everyone is off enjoying summer vacation or better yet some fishy fieldwork. Summer is the best time of the year when we can spend most days on a river or lake, whether you are fishing, snorkeling, or shocking. I wish everyone good luck on their fieldwork, summer internships, and/or research. The water temps are creeping up like a Smallmouth Bass on a Wavyrayed Lampmussel lure, so make sure y’all stay cool and safe out there!
Just remember if the summer heat becomes too much, head to the mountains and cool off on the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.
Luke
Submitted by Luke Etchison, NCAFS President
Treasurer’s Report
Balances as of June 10, 2024
NCAFS Wells Fargo Checking Account: $2,554.11
SDAFS 2025 Meeting Checking Account: $11,675.00
NCAFS PayPal Account: $146.50
RRCC Wells Fargo Saving Account: $2,829.49
Edward Jones Ichthus (Student) Fund: $30,072.65
Edward Jones General Fund: $59,314.44
As of June 2024, the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society has a total of 50 NCAFS only members and 70 NCAFS and AFS members for a total of 120 active members. 16 are students, 93 are professional members, and 11 are retirees or lifetime members. Thank you to everyone who paid their dues!
Recent expenses include deposits paid for the 2025 SDAFS meeting, a $500 Hutton Scholarship donation, and a reimbursement to Luke Etchison for ExCom travel to the parent society AFS meeting in Honolulu. We also recently received a reimbursement from AFS for membership dues. We are looking to hopefully sponsor a few students to attend meetings in the near future!
Fundraising continues for the 2025 SDAFS meeting. 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]) or Casey Joubert ([email protected]) Co-Secretary/Treasurers for NCAFS.
Submitted by Casey Joubert, NCAFS Secretary-Treasurer
SDAFS First Call for Symposia and Workshops
The North Carolina Chapter invites you to lead the way in fisheries conservation, management, and research by submitting your proposal for a symposium or continuing education workshop at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society!
Deadline for submissions is August 9, 2024.
Symposia may be scheduled in two-hour blocks ranging from two hours to full-day sessions and may include individual presentations, panel discussions or other formats. Organizers should note that contributed presentations must be scheduled in 20-minute blocks (which include the presentation and Q&A) and will be responsible for submitting abstracts for presentations in their sessions. Symposia proposals may be submitted at the link below; please send inquires to Jeremy McCargo at jeremy.mccargo@ncwildlife.org.
Workshops may be scheduled in half-day (4 hours) or full-day (6–8 hours) increments. Workshops may be submitted at the link below. Please direct inquiries to Kevin Dockendorf at [email protected].
Submit your symposia or workshop proposal: https://nc.fisheries.org/2025-sdafs-meeting/details/#workshopform
Submitted by the SDAFS Planning Committee
Spring Sampling Highlights: An NCWRC Photo Essay
Chapter members were awfully busy this spring, so much so that it was tough to submit new content! Luckily, we were able to wrangle a few pictures from folks doing good work all across the state.
District 8 braving the early season. Biologist Thomas Johnson (foreground) pulls a fish from the Catawba River while electrofishing with biologist David Goodfred Wednesday March 13, 2024.
Eastern Region Aquatic Wildlife Diversity biologists spotted these Bluehead Chubs and White Shiners spawning on a chub mound in Deep Creek (Person County). Photo Credit: Michael Walter.
District 2 Fisheries Biologist I Mason Collins holding a nice Largemouth Bass while evaluating sport fish opportunities at Martin Marietta Park in New Bern, NC. Photo Credit: TD VanMiddlesworth.
Biologists with the Western Region of the Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Program holding a seine net full of spawning Redhorse, Moxostoma sp., in Peachtree Creek (Hiwassee Basin). Surveys utilizing backpack electrofishing and seines were conducted in April and May to identify tributaries used by suckers during spawning. Photo Credit: Dylan Owensby.
NCWRC District 6 Fisheries Biologists, Casey Joubert and Troy Thompson, completed spring survey work on Lake Norman, Blewett Falls Lake, Badin Lake, and Tuckertown Lake. Here, Troy Thompson nets fish while surveying the vegetation edge for Largemouth Bass.
The Central Region Aquatic Wildlife Diversity team has been focusing on rare coastal fish surveys primarily in the Cape Fear and Lumber river basins, updating distribution maps for six target species. Here, AWD technician Laurens Vermeulen inspects “madtom motels” for the elusive “Broadtail” Madtom. Photo Credit: Emilia Omerburg.
WRC biologists are working in District 8 to reclaim a Pisgah National Forest stream from non-native Brown Trout. Once the 1.4-km reach is fully depopulated after several multi-pass electrofishing removal efforts, native Brook Trout will be reintroduced to the stream to hopefully restore a stronghold in a drainage largely devoid of genetically pure populations.
District 4 spent most of the spring on the Cape Fear River surveying anadromous fish. Here, Clemson University’s Maggie Gaither measures an American Shad at Lock & Dam 3. Photo Credit: Kyle Rachels.
Jennifer Dunn, Foothills AWD conservation technician, holds a male Seagreen Darter (Etheostoma thalassinum, NC-Special Concern) collected during spring surveys in the Jacob Fork headwaters, Burke County, NC. Jacob Fork, and nearby Henry Fork, are home to several additional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) aquatic species including Thicklip Chub (NC-Threatened), Santee Chub (NC-Threatened) and South Mountains Crayfish (NC-Threatened). Photo Credit: Michael Perkins.
David Hart and Seth Mycko work through a live well full of bass for a sport fish survey at Graham-Mebane Lake in District 5.
District 3 biologist David Belkoski with a large Freshwater Drum collected in Lake Gaston in May. Photo Credit: Kirk Rundle.
Scott Loftis, Mountain Region Aquatic Habitat Coordinator, holding two Largemouth Bass from Lake Hickory.
District 1 biologists Deon Kerr (l) and Chris Smith (r) drop off control fish during a Striped Bass catch and release mortality study on the Roanoke River.
Submitted by NCWRC staff
Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Laboratory
Submitted by Sean Buczek
Good Work! – Recent Publications by NCAFS Members
Lu, X., Y. Kanno, G. P. Valentine, J. M. Rash, and M. B. Hooten. 2024. Using multi-scale spatial models of dendritic ecosystems to infer abundance of a stream salmonid. Journal of Applied Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14665.
Valentine, G. P., X. Lu, C. A. Dolloff, C. N. Roghair, J. M. Rash, M. B. Hooten, and Y. Kanno. 2024. Landscape influences on thermal sensitivity and predicted spatial variability among Brook Trout streams in the Southeastern USA. River Research and Applications. River Res Applic. 2024:1–14.
Submitted by the NCAFS Newsletter Review Team
Stories of Interest
Blue Ridge Snorkel Trial
NPR highlights the work of several NCAFS members
Flounder
Closure of recreation flounder season has some anglers asking for legislative intervention
Wildlife Commission to address Flounder
Correspondence from WRC to MFC highlights management disagreement
NC Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
Jaime Collazo recognized, unit receives safety award
Mandatory reporting
Past NCAFS president discusses benefits of mandatory harvest reporting of several species
Lake Mattamuskeet
Chemical efforts to reduce algae blooms put on hold
Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Laboratory Opens
Partnership, conservation benefits from efforts of multiple NCAFS members
NC Wildlife Federation urges end to inshore trawling
Points to shrimp trawl bycatch in fish nursery grounds
World Ocean Day
Indigenous peoples team with scientists to conserve marine ecosystems
Fishes of Lake Waccamaw
Blog post highlighting Tim Aldridge’s exploits at our favorite NC natural lake
Endangered Rivers 2024
American River’s annual list draws attention to Little Pee Dee
Fish are shrinking around the world
Reasons unknown
Department of Interior acknowledges impacts of Columbia River dams
Yet, fails to recognize government policies deliberately harmed native peoples
Problems with farmed salmon
What do farmed salmon eat?
Poachers busted for striped bass violations
Out of season harvest and hiding fish in traffic cones
Fish kill in Vietnam
Heat, low water kill lots of fish in Southeast Asia
Alaska has a plan to save salmon
Criticized for inadequate tribal consultation
Submitted by the NCAFS Newsletter Review Team
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/
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.