Fish and Deckers Creek…

…Do Not Mix!

Fish Presentation Introduce Myself The FODC Mission The “Grandma Rule” My Goal for the upper Mon basin Fishes and the Big Picture Fishes and Deckers Creek A Fish Plan for Deckers Creek

FODC Mission to improve the natural qualities of, to increase public concern for, and to promote the enjoyment of the Deckers Creek watershed

The “Grandma Rule” Reason for cleaning up a river should be obvious to my grandma in one sentence.

My Goal for the Upper Mon Recover waterbodies that support self-sustaining aquatic communities and provide quality opportunities for fishing and other forms of recreation for residents of and visitors to the region.

I am not against fish stocking as a form of fisheries management

I am against depending on stocking as a means of meeting water quality and fisheries objectives Inefficient Costly (fuel, food, manpower) Unsustainable Misleading / Misdirected Effort

Fishes and the Big Picture 41% of fish species are freshwater (10,500 worldwide) despite freshwater being only 0.01% of all water (importance of isolation and habitat diversity) 950 species in N.A. (75% in eastern U.S.) Tribs of Mississippi are the most diverse Upper Ohio is least diverse of this region Importance of the most recent glacial period

Tennessee River most diverse Atlantic slope least diverse New / Kanawha River basin “relatively diverse” Warren et al. 1997

Reproductive Behavior Sculpins attach eggs to underside of cobbles. Nests are defended by solitary males until young disperse as juveniles.

Reproductive Behavior Sunfishes and basses excavate small depressions and defend nests from predators.

Reproductive Behavior Salmonids construct redds, broadcast spawn over them, and leave eggs to the vagaries of life.

Reproductive Behavior Cyprinid Spawning Mounds (probably constructed by a central stoneroller, Campostoma anamolum) Used by a mixed species assemblage

Thermal Tolerances “Cold-Water” Species Eurythermal Species “Warm-Water” Species

Thermal Tolerances THERMAL CATEGORY EXAMPLES Coldwater Species (Avg. Daily Summer Max. < 21C / 70F) Trout, Sculpin Warmwater Species (Avg. Daily Winter Min. > 80C) Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Carp, Sunfishes, Catfishes Eurythermal Species (Wide Thermal Tolerance Range) Creek chub, Blacknose Dace, White Sucker, Fantail Darter Huge problem of destroying thermal regime in small streams that possess hydrologic and physical characteristics that are only suitable for coldwater species. It is rare for a warmwater system to be converted to a coldwater system (but see reservoir tailwaters). Distinction between a coldwater system and a warmwater system is not clear cut, especially in WV. You can have cold and warm water streams within the same drainage network. Or you can have seasonal cold and warmwater systems (extremely common). In these systems, fish must move around to be functional. Example: lower cheat and upper shavers and greenbriar and north branch of potomac and on and on. Preferred / Tolerable temperature ranges vary dramatically among fish species. Produces quasi-predictable changes in fish community structure along an upstream to downstream continuum. (spawning habitat, temperature, flow, food) Coldwater species are highly susceptible to habitat degradation because most forms of degradation lead to higher summer temperatures.