Monitoring the Abundance of American Shad and River Herring in Virginia's Rivers: 2023 Annual Report
Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
1-31-2024
Abstract
This report describes the results of the twenty-sixth year of a continuing study to estimate the relative abundance and assess the status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) stocks in Virginia by monitoring the spawning runs in the James, York and Rappahannock rivers in spring 2023, evaluating hatchery programs, and contributing to coast-wide assessments (ASMFC 2007, ASMFC 2020). We also report on two fisheryindependent monitoring programs using anchor gillnets in the Rappahannock River (year 6) and a major tributary of the James River, the Chickahominy River (year 9), to determine relative abundance and stock structure for the adult spawning run of river herring (A. pseudoharengus, and A. aestivalis). Further, we report on the year 8 of a monitoring program for juvenile alosines by using nighttime surface trawls in the Chickahominy River and present an index of juvenile abundance from this survey. An additional result of this study was analysis of bycatch of American shad in a permitted gill-net fishery and American shad and river herring in pound-net fisheries.
Description
Submitted to Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Contract Number: F-116-R26
Project Period: 15 November 2022 - Nov 14, 2023
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25773/dgg9-5948
Keywords
shad, shad fisheries, alewife, blueback herring, Virginia
Funding
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Recommended Citation
Hilton, E. J., McGrath, P. E., Magee, A., & Hoyt, T. (2024) Monitoring the Abundance of American Shad and River Herring in Virginia's Rivers: 2023 Annual Report. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://doi.org/10.25773/dgg9-5948
Included in
Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
