UPDATE: More than more than 500,000 hickory shad larvae or “fry” were released in late April into the lower Brandywine River as part of an ongoing effort to restore a once-abundant species. Hickory shad are a slightly smaller cousin to the more renowned American shad. They reach about 3 pounds in weight and are becoming increasingly popular as sport fish. This stocking follows the Brandywine's first stocking of American shad larvae last year which were taken from the Potomac River. As with the American shad, the hickory fry also came from Maryland's hatchery system – with the state's Division of Natural Resources collecting spawning adults in the lower Susquehanna River then transporting them to a facility on the state's western shore.
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Shad roe, sure—but shad don’t row, they have to travel by swimming. And therein is a fin and fish story set against what’s hoped are surmountable odds: Bringing American shad back to their historic spawning ground on the Brandywine River as the fish pass through dams either demolished or retrofitted, enabling them to go against the river’s flow and reproduce.
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DNREC’s dam at the new Alapocas Run State Park will be demolished and give free run on that stretch of the Brandywine River to returning shad in hopes that they will spawn in the river. |
Many of the dams date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, built to capitalize on the Brandywine’s sharp drop in elevation which made for a swift current that powered mills and factories on the river’s Delaware stretch. But by regulating the river’s outflow, the dams—there are 11 of them along the Brandywine in Delaware—also blocked it off to shad and other migratory fish fighting to get upstream and spawn.
As anadromous fish—born in freshwater but spending most of their lives at sea before returning to spawn—American shad have historically been among the most plentiful of those migratory species. Their annual runs in rivers and streams along the Atlantic Coast—the Delaware River most prominent among them—enliven spring for anglers and gourmet diners alike.
Now, a partnership between Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Fish and Wildlife Division, the Brandywine Conservancy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and private interests aims to restore spawning shad in the Delaware stretch of the Brandywine River. DNREC and other dam owners will soon embark on removing some of the stone and concrete structures, while making other dams more conducive to shad swimming upstream.
Of the 11 dams on the Brandywine’s Delaware stretch, so far only the two owned by DNREC and a third owned by DuPont at Chestnut Run face dismantling or restructuring. But other dams are in the planning stages of modification from fish ladders, diversion channels and rock ramps. The City of Wilmington has applied for federal grants to build ladders at the two dams it owns, including the river’s southernmost dam at West Street, which now impedes fish passage upstream.
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| Most of the breached dam at Rockland Mills (above) will soon be removed, which should enable American shad to get further up into the Brandywine River. |
The shad were given a head start on their return journey in April when a first batch of larvae, or fry, were released into the Brandywine. These ½-inch fish were hatched from eggs of shad caught in the Potomac River (itself a shad restoration success) and donated by Maryland’s Division of Natural Resources. DNREC officials are optimistic that future stockings for the Brandywine may come from Delaware’s own shad restoration triumph—the Nanticoke River—or eventually the eggs may be taken and hatched from female adult shad returning to the Brandywine.
More than the dams along the river make the shad’s return an uphill struggle. If successful at navigating the Brandywine, Cristina and Delaware rivers, the shad larvae will grow as they swim into the Delaware Bay and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean, where they will spend between three and six years before returning to spawn. “We’re hoping to get a handle on how many shad end up back in the Brandywine as adults from this first stocking,” said Craig Shirey, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife fisheries program manager, “and we can then assess whether additional stocking might come from these adults, or again from outside sources.”
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One of DNREC’s partners in the shad restoration program, the Brandywine Conservancy, cites enormous environmental and recreational benefits to the Brandywine River from the shad’s return. Populations of both birds and mammals would gain from another link in the food chain. And restoring the shad and other species to the river enhances the biological vitality of the watershed and also contributes to recreational fishing. |
“We also want them to go as far upriver as they possibly can to spawn,” he said. A new study funded (by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation) will determine whether the shad spawn might be greater on the Brandywine if more dams on the Pennsylvania stretch of the river didn’t impede returning fish, according to Sherri Evans-Stanton, director of the Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center.
DNREC will remove one of its two dams on the river—at the newly opened Alapocas Run State Park—and modify a second (at Rockland Mills) which has been breached, but not enough for shad passage upriver. “The breach still doesn’t let fish get over the dam,” Shirey said. “DNREC will be taking out one-third to half the dam to facilitate their passage—we will be leaving a portion of the dam in place for historic interpretation.”
DNREC has received funding from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture for removing and altering its dams, while partners such as the Brandywine Conservancy will use grant money for the shad restoration. “Restoration is a fundamental part of our Department’s mission,” said DNREC Secretary John A. Hughes. “We’re pleased to be taking the first steps (with our dams) in this partnership program to restore the run of American shad that historically filled the Delaware portion of the Brandywine River.”
