Winter 2024 Newsletter

President’s Message

Dear Aqua-friends,

My year as NCAFS President was a memorable one, to say the least. Helene was a terrible way to end the year and my presidency, but I think we have a lot to be proud of. We won “Best Small Chapter” at last year’s Southern Division AFS meeting and we couldn’t have won that without all the great work that all our members do every year.

As we continue to evaluate the impact of Hurricane Helene, it is important to acknowledge the recovery of our communities and our ecosystems will take hard work and continued support from folks all over North Carolina, including NCAFS. The storm brought significant challenges to our fisheries, altering habitats and potentially affected fish populations. In the aftermath, our commitment to monitoring and restoring these vital resources is more important than ever. We must come together to share our observations and insights, ensuring that we learn from this experience to better protect our fisheries in the future.

I encourage everyone to come out to the Southern Division American Fisheries Society meeting in Asheville next month. This gathering presents a valuable opportunity for us to engage with fellow professionals from all over the south and share knowledge in fisheries management and conservation. The discussions will be particularly relevant as we figure out how to bounce back from Helene. To quote my friend Duke Hollison: “Just because some fish are inactive during the winter, doesn’t mean you should be”.

As we prepare for the meeting, let us keep in mind the importance of collaboration, mentorship, and innovation in our field. Together, we can strengthen our commitment to preserving North Carolina’s aquatic resources and ensure that our fisheries continue to thrive for generations to come.

I’ve enjoyed my time as president of NCAFS and I look forward to supporting the Chapter in other capacities.

Luke

Submitted by Luke Etchison, NCAFS President

Hurricane Helene Monitoring

Swannanoa River

In November and December, Patrick Ciccotto and his Warren Wilson College students sampled fishes in streams in the Swannanoa River basin to begin baseline monitoring post-Helene. Thirteen undergraduate students involved in either the Conservation of Freshwater Fishes First Year Seminar course, the Conservation Biology Student Work Crew, or the Natural Sciences Undergraduate Research Sequence capstone at Warren Wilson College participated in electrofishing surveys for fishes at 10 different stream sections throughout the watershed. Preliminary data are encouraging, with over 20 species observed across all sites sampled. However, the widespread destruction of riparian zones and the amount of sediment and debris deposited throughout the Swannanoa River likely pose long-term threats to stream ecosystems. Future work by students will aim to understand the impacts of these threats and implement restoration efforts with community partners in the region.  

Submitted by Patrick Ciccotto

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 developing opportunities for NCAFS and SDAFS to further support communities impacted by the hurricane. Abstract submission is closed, but folks can still register to attend and learn the latest in fisheries science across the southeast.

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 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

Angling for North Carolina’s Indigenous Suckers: Our Quest for Redhorse Images

Downstream view of the Deep River at NC 42 bridge at Carbonton, Chatham-Lee counties, NC. Imagery date March 2024.

Tim Aldridge, Fritz Rohde, and Bryn Tracy have been repeatedly visiting the Deep River in search of redhorse suckers. Both Tim and Bryn together had been to this river most recently in Fall 2023 (Deep River Fall 2023). Besides his captivation with microfishing, Tim is passionately seeking to land a Carolina Redhorse, Moxostoma sp. “Carolina” Redhorse. Fritz’s and Bryn’s goal is to obtain additional images of any redhorses or other catostomids that Tim frequently lands at the Deep River site. They hope to acquire extra images of Brassy Jumprock, Moxostoma sp. “Brassy” Jumprock and V-lip Redhorse, M. pappillosum, for their NCFishes.com website. Bryn is also seeking live images of “Carolina” Redhorse for an on-going species description project that Gabriela Hogue (NCSM), Dr. Lily Hughes (NCSM), and he are currently tackling.

The Deep River at Carbonton had been impounded by a series of mill and hydroelectric power dams since colonial times. In 2005, the dam and powerhouse were deconstructed granting fish passage and returning the river to its free-flowing state (Carbonton Dam Removal). Prior to and following its dismantlement, the diverse fish, mussel, and aquatic communities were intensively studied by NCWRC Aquatic Wildlife Diversity staff, private consultants (e.g., Catena Group, now know as Three Oaks Engineering), NCSU graduate students, and others. Today, all that remains is a graffiti-covered powerhouse (Figure 1) and picnic area that are popular with fishers and late night hell-raisers.

V-lip Redhorse, Moxostoma pappillosum, in-hand from the Deep River at Carbonton, Chatham-Lee counties, NC, November 2024. Photograph by Tim Aldridge.  The blues in the photo are just shadows, not the fish color.

V-lip Redhorse, Moxostoma pappillosum, from the Deep River at Carbonton, NC, Chatham-Lee counties, November 2024. Photograph by Fritz Rohde.

On the morning of November 20^th, 2024, Tim and Bryn proceeded to go microfishing in hopes of landing the suckers of interest. Unfortunately, an intermittent, changing to a steady, drenching, and chilly rain had other plans for them. After easily catching only Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus and Redbreast Sunfish, L. auritus, but no suckers, they called it a day and retreated home, determined to return another day.

Fritz and Bryn photographing V-lip Redhorses, Moxostoma pappillosum, from the Deep River at Carbonton, Chatham-Lee counties, NC, November 2024. Photographs by Tim Aldridge.

Not to be discouraged, Tim and Bryn tried once again the day after Thanksgiving on November 29^th, this time accompanied by master photographer Fritz. While Fritz and Bryn carried out the photography chores, they dutifully entrusted Tim to bring them some suckers on a silver platter. Tim did not disappoint them on a bright, but cool, sunny morning. Using size 8 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hooks (Circle Hooks) and very small pieces of red earthworms, Tim made quick work by catching two ~15 inch V-lip Redhorses (Figure 2) who were extremely cooperative in having their pictures taken (Figures 3-5).

While Tim did not land a Carolina Redhorse or a “Brassy” Jumprock that morning, Tim remains vigilant in his quest. As is customary with how specimens are photographed, Fritz, Scott A. Smith, and Jesse L Bissette, catch, photograph, and release fish as efficiently and quickly as possible in their mission to obtain better and better images of North Carolina’s freshwater fishes.

Fritz getting up-close and personal for some lip images of V-lip Redhorse, Moxostoma pappillosum, from the Deep River at Carbonton, Chatham-Lee counties, NC, November 2024. Because, as you know, it’s “All in the Lips” (Sucker Lips). Photographs by Tim Aldridge (left) and Fritz Rohde (right).

Submitted by Tim Aldridge, Fritz Rohde, and Bryn H. Tracy

Interning with the NCSM Ichthyology Collection

Submitted by Sam Elam

Madtoms and More: Rare Fish Finds in Piedmont and Coastal Plain Streams

Madtom Motels in production. Photo credit: Katherine Devilbiss.

The Broadtail Madtom (Noturus sp. c.f. leptacanthus) is a rare endemic species in the coastal plain of the Carolinas, currently in the process of description. In the last fifty years, there has been an observed decline in Broadtail Madtom detections in North Carolina, where it was previously documented in the Cape Fear and Lumber river basins. The species has not been found in the Cape Fear watershed since 2001, in part attributed to exotic Flathead Catfish introduction and predation. From 2019 through 2024, WRC staff conducted surveys and deployed artificial cover structures to increase understanding of the species’ current population status. The cover structures, called ‘madtom motels,’ had two goals: to decrease predatory pressure on the fish and to increase the chances of detecting the tiny, cryptic fish during monitoring. We currently have fifty-five madtom motels deployed across five locations.

Madtom motels high and dry after water levels dropped in the Lumber River in July 2024. Photo by Emilia Omerberg.

A few populations of Broadtail Madtom persist in the Lumber basin, albeit in low abundance. They have been found in the mainstem Lumber River, Shoe Heel Creek, and Joes Creek. This year we added a new locality to the map for these unique catfish. In July, we located two individuals in Gum Swamp Creek in the Lumber River basin! In July, we also located two individuals in Joes Creek in association with some of our deployed motels.

Broadtail Madtom found Gum Swamp Creek in July 2024. Photo by Emilia Omerberg

In December, we located another three individuals from the same site in Gum Swap Creek. Two of these individuals were brought into the Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Center in Raleigh to begin learning about their requirements/life history and to hopefully propagate them in the future.

Broadtail Madtom located in Lake Waccamaw in September 2024. Photo by Emilia Omerberg

Two individuals were also detected in Lake Waccamaw this fall. The first one was found in an empty mussel shell during our biannual long term mussel monitoring survey in September. We dumped out a bag of mussels to ID and out came a madtom!

Western Region AWD Technician Victoria Carter inadvertently caught this rare fish while surveying for mussels! Photo by Emilia Omerberg

Fritz Rhode found another in a madtom motel in Lake Waccamaw in November; these were exciting finds as less than five animals have been found in the lake since 2002.

Fritz Rohde identifying a Broadtail Madtom. Photo by Emilia Omerberg

This was an exciting year for Broadtail Madtoms. We will continue to monitor our motels, and we plan to deploy more in the future. Some dedicated survey time in Lake Waccamaw is planned for fall of 2025 and we hope to being to propagate this rare species at the Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Center!

Surveying for Broadtail Madtom by backpack shocking into a seine. Photo by Emilia Omerberg

In addition to madtom searches, this winter, NCWRC Central Region AWD, with assistance from Eastern Region AWD, collected Carolina Darters (Etheostoma collis) from several streams in Granville County to use in a host fish trial for an undescribed new mussel species from the Uwharries, that will take place at the NCWRC Marion Conservation Aquaculture Center in 2025. These will be added to the mix of fish species which will be tested in a second round of experimentation to try and determine which is successful for this mussel species. An initial round of host trials was conducted last year, but none of the fish at that time showed significant success at hosting the mussels’ larvae.

Carolina Darter

Submitted by Emilia Omerberg and Brena Jones

Lessons Learned From Following Bodie Bass for Over Two Years

A recent telemetry study completed by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) offered a glimpse at a day (or several years) in the life of Bodie Bass Morone saxatillis X Morone chrysops. Utilizing temperature and depth-sensor acoustic transmitters and a large array of passive receivers in Lake Norman, biologists can now confirm that Bodie Bass swim everywhere, all the time, except for the metalimnion and the hypolimnion during the summer. Whereas Striped Bass previously stocked into Lake Norman experienced a high frequency of fish kills during late summer stratification, Bodie Bass stocked into the same system have not. The question biologists were seeking answers to is, why? Besides being related to White Bass M. chrysops, what makes them so special?

Fish were also implanted with radio telemetry tags to aid in active tracking efforts. In this photo, Lawrence Dorsey is using a radio antenna to locate individual fish.

Like most things in science, the answer was not so straightforward. Bodie Bass appeared to exhibit several behavioral and physiological advantages over Striped Bass that allowed them to survive during the summer, when suitable habitat became limited. Mainly, Bodie Bass generally avoided the metalimnion during the summer stratification period and were observed making quick dives into the hypolimnion, presumably to feed or occupy preferred water temperatures. This diving behavior ceased when the dissolved oxygen in the hypolimnion fell below 1.5 – 2.0 mg/L, at which point, fish primarily occupied the epilimnion. Bodie Bass avoided getting stuck in the hypolimnion during the summer oxygen squeeze because they were able to sustain metabolic needs in temperatures greater than 27 ˚C in the epilimnion from July through September. For context, that is a long time to spend in really warm water and, according to the literature, would be less possible for a Striped Bass to accomplish. Thus, high thermal tolerance, opportunistic feeding, and diving behavior likely all contribute to the improved survival of Bodie Bass over Striped Bass during the summer. Visit the WRC website to read the full report and see other recently completed projects. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the project!

Individual 13131 dives into the hypolimnion (i.e., >10 m) until mid-July. They remain in the epilimnion near the oxycline until September when they begin to use multiple zones and depths within the epilimnion and hypolimnion.

Submitted by Kelsey Roberts

Fish of the Week Podcast

If you haven’t heard by now, since January 2021 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has produced an award winning weekly podcast called: “Fish of the Week”.

“Originating as a tribute to 150 years of fisheries conservation, Season 1 followed co-hosts Katrina Liebich and Guy Eroh as they sought to unpack the diversity of Alaska’s fishes. Seasons 2-4 follow up as a true audio almanac to #ALLTHEFISH: a week-by-week tour of interesting American ichthyofauna with guests around the country from all walks of life. Listeners journey across America and beyond learning about fish that are big and small, common and rare, beautiful and downright strange. Diverse guests bring their perspectives about the latest fisheries science and how fish are woven into the fabric of communities and cultures across North America and beyond. The co-hosts bring their own excitement and humor to help listeners walk away from each episode smiling and with practical information and calls to action about how to live with, learn from, discover and enjoy our amazing finned friends”.

I first learned of this podcast during its second season and have been an avid listener ever since. It appeals to me because the co-hosts cover a wide range of freshwater and marine fishes, including many species found in North Carolina and present it in an educational style that professionals and lay listeners can understand and enjoy.

By my count, previous episodes have discussed at least 38 of our freshwater species, including nongame and game species, ranging from Sea Lamprey to Elassoma pygmy sunfishes. I especially enjoy a podcast that interviews someone that I know. For example, guest appearances by former and current NC AFS members have included Gus Engman (Mountain Mullet and Sicydium gobies in Puerto Rico), Luke Etchison (Fantail Darter and our very own Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail), Ambar Molinari (American Eel in Puerto Rico), and Caleb Hickman, last year’s Plenary Speaker at our Chapter meeting in Sylva (Sicklefin Redhorse). A February 2022 episode with guest Michael Pillow (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Flagstaff, AZ) even discussed Humpback Chub, a species I have had the volunteer opportunity to work with in Arizona.

Katrina and Guy are already working on this year’s episodes. Tentative freshwater species to be aired in 2025 include some of my favorite species such as Paddlefish, Warpaint Shiner, Tangerine Darter, Robust Redhorse, and Flier. Additional North Carolina species in the queue include Spotfin Chub, Fathead Minnow, Cyprinella spp., Blueback Herring, Smallmouth Bass, River Carpsucker, Ameiurus spp., Shad (Hickory or Alabama), Bowfin, and silversides. So don’t forget to tune in very week. And if you are new to this podcast, past episodes can also be found on their website: https://www.fws.gov/fish-of-the-week-podcast.

Submitted by Bryn H. Tracy

Spotlight on Students and Young Professionals

Danny Morrill.

Danny Morrill:  During November of 2024, Daniel Morrill joined the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as the newest Fisheries Biologist in District 5. Danny began his Fisheries Career as a technician at the Illinois Natural History Survey working on projects ranging from long term monitoring of fish communities to surveys for listed mussel species. He received a master’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in 2021 with a focus on temporal trends in fish assemblage structure over 80 years in an Ozark stream. He also assisted in other projects such as occupancy modeling of the endangered Peppered Shiner (Notropis perpallidus). After graduation from UCA, he worked as a temporary technician for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Green Bay Wisconsin primarily surveying for lake trout and lake whitefish. From there he took a position as a biologist with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, where he managed a wide array of projects including long term monitoring of fish communities in the Neches River Estuary, Texas, PFAS bioaccumulation in fish filets to inform eating advisories for the state of New Jersey, and headwater fish community response to a forest cover gradient in the Poconos/Catskill Mountains of Pennsylvania and New York. He is very excited to now be working in freshwater fish management to apply his knowledge to help improve fishing for North Carolina’s anglers. He will be living in Haw River and working out of the NCWRC Sykes Depot.

Nadya Mamoozadeh.

Nadya Mamoozadeh:  Hello NCAFS members! I’m thrilled to introduce myself as a new faculty member in fisheries at NC State University, where I started in late October 2024. I’m also a new member of NCAFS and am excited to meet folks involved in the science and management of fisheries here in North Carolina and the southeast. My research focuses on the biology and ecology of freshwater and marine fishes, where I use genetic and genomic methods to supply practical information for fisheries management. Before joining NC State, I spent six years at Michigan State University collaborating with state, federal, and tribal agencies to improve management plans for brook trout and lake trout in the Lake Superior basin. Prior to that, I completed my PhD studies at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where I studied large pelagic fishes and partnered with federal agencies and international management organizations. Outside of work, I love to be outdoors and enjoy camping, hiking, boating, and fishing—I’ve already started exploring some of North Carolina’s beautiful state parks and have several more on my list. This new chapter at NC State is incredibly exciting and I look forward to meeting many of you at the upcoming SDAFS meeting in Asheville!

Maggie Gaither.

Maggie Gaither:  Another recent hire at NCWRC is Maggie Gaither. Maggie brings her skills and enthusiasm to the Fisheries Management program as the District 4 Fisheries Biologist I. She recently completed her M.S. at Clemson University where she spent 2 years conducting American Shad telemetry research on the Cape Fear River under the direction of Dr. Troy Farmer. Maggie attended the University of South Carolina for her undergraduate studies, and previously worked for SCDNR as a Piedmont sport fish technician.

When she’s not working, Maggie enjoys reading, running, and road trips to visit family and friends. She also has 2 cats (Pacha and Beans), and is the adoptive mother of a wayward deer hound named Lentil. Maggie lives in Fayetteville and would like you to send her opportunities to add to her fish catch list.

Good Work! – Recent Publications by NCAFS Members