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 TODD WETHERINGTON | DAILY HERALD Dominion Power North Carolina biologist Bob Graham assists Julie Harris, a graduate student majoring in zoology at North Carolina State, as they collect shad from Roanoke Rapids Lake Wednesday. The fish will be tagged and released in the lake's upper reservoir, where their movements will be tracked through June. |
Wednesday, these unique anglers were on Roanoke Rapids Lake capturing and tagging shad with special monitors. It's all part of a joint effort involving Dominion North Carolina Power, N.C. Wildlife Resources and a North Carolina State University doctoral student, Julie Harris.
The idea is to capture the fish and attach special electronic markers to them. Then release them upstream, where Harris has installed special monitors to track their paths.
Bob Graham, a Dominion North Carolina environmental biologist, explained the process is all part of the power company's commitment to restoring shad to the river system, an effort promised in its relicensing agreement for Roanoke Rapids Dam and Lake Gaston Dam with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In that agreement, Dominion Power North Carolina agreed to assist in efforts to restore shad and the American eel to the waterways.
During the next few weeks, several hundred shad will be caught, tagged and then transported in a 600-gallon tank up river to be released above Lake Gaston Dam, Kerr Lake and in Staunton River.
The fish are then tracked by Harris, who is working on the research project as part of her doctoral studies at N.C. State.
The idea is to reintroduce the species upstream and provide a normal lifecycle for the fish, which was interrupted with the construction of the two dams.
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