Funded Projects
FishAmerica and its partners in the sportfishing and boating
industry, conservation community and in government agencies
have invested nearly $9 million invested into more than 900
water quality and fish population enhancement projects across
North America.
Local community volunteers have donated more than 1 million
hours of their time to help keep our nation’s fish
and waters healthy.
Select a link to the left to view a sample of the projects
we have funded across the United States and Canada.
Project Spotlight
Hatchery Programs: Are We Getting a Good Bang for
Our Buck?
Judging from pro angler Mike Iaconelli’s two-day,
final-round total of 34 pounds, 14 ounces during the 2005
Potomac River Wal-Mart/FLW Tour’s Chevy Open, it would
seem that the bass population in the Potomac River is doing
just fine.
 The nearly 15,000 square mile Potomac River watershed has
an active fishery, supporting a healthy bass population among
other recreational favorites. But the biologists at the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources think it can be better. To
find out, they are using a $5,640 grant from the FishAmerica
Foundation and FLW Outdoors to look at the state’s
hatchery program that supports this vital fishery.
A look at the Potomac’s bass populations
While
the Potomac has generally experienced enough successful juvenile
largemouth bass growth to sustain a high quality bass population,
many of Maryland’s tidal largemouth
bass populations have exhibited low reproductive levels despite
above average growth and health conditions. This leaves juvenile
recruitment as the main factor limiting population levels
in the watershed.
In response, the state began augmenting many of these populations
through a supplemental stocking program. Despite the
generally accepted rule of thumb that stocking larger fish
will increase chances of survival once released, this does
not always work in favor of the state agencies tasked with
ensuring healthy fisheries populations on small budgets.
While Maryland’s hatcheries have the capacity to produce
more than two million fry per year, current demands on infrastructure
and manpower limit the state to raising approximately 100,000
tagable bass each year. The ability to apply recognizable
marks to hatchery fish of all sizes is crucial to understanding
the effectiveness and increasing the efficiency of hatchery
programs.
 Better for the fishery
Maryland adopted a technique
developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast
Fishery Center to mark small fish with a flourochrome compound
known as calcein. Calcein fluoresces (glows) when viewed
under a mark detector resulting in a non-lethal, field-identifiable
mark approved for use through the USFWS Aquatic Animal Drug
Approval Partnership Program.
Maryland’s successful 2005 recapture results indicate
that the calcein marking technique is showing promise as
a remedy for a multitude of issues facing state agencies.
The method is significantly less labor intensive during both
the marking and recapture phases of operations, increasing
the probability of survival. It also allows marking of younger
fish too small to be individually marked—allowing maximum
output to efficiently fulfill suggested stocking rates. The
method may also provide an opportunity to assess stocking
efficiency at various early life stages while reducing expense
to the agency.
This research is part of an ongoing assessment program initiated
by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries
Service to guide yearly stocking initiatives and evaluate
current strategies. For more information, please contact
the FishAmerica Foundation at 703-519-9691 x245.
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Fish Passage Restoration
Staff members lower the eelway at the Millsboro Pond Dam
to allow eel passage upstream.
The FishAmerica Foundation,
through its partnership with the NOAA Restoration Center,
awarded a $2,500 grant to the Delaware Center for the Inland
Bays to restore eel passage to Millsboro Pond a 101-acre
impoundment on the Indian River in Millsboro, Del.
Millsboro Pond is a popular freshwater fishing
area for local residents and visitors to southern Delaware.
The Pond is home to largemouth bass, crappie, sunfish, chain
pickerel and bluegill, with striped bass fishing immediately
below the dam. Eel are a favorite forage fish for striped
bass and are often used as bait.
From left to right: Jim Alderman, Eric Buehl, E.J. Chalabala, and Josh Thompson, all from Center for the Inland Bays; Johanna Laderman, FishAmerica Foundation; Chris Bason, Center for the Inland Bays; Faye Lingo, Town of Millsboro; Jeff Bloem, FishAmerica Foundation.
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