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sholar, terry m. 61 ANADROMOUS FISHERIES RESEARCH PROGRAM/ CAPE FEAR RIVER SYSTEM, PHASE I By Terry M. Sholar N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries Morehead City, N. C. 28557 Completion Report for Project AFCS-12 November 17, 1977 QL 628 .N8 S56 1977 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................1 STUDY AREA....................................................................................................2 MATERIALS AND METHODS.........................................................................................6 Juvenile survey.........................................................................................6 adult survey............................................................................................6 spawning area survey....................................................................................9 commercial and recreational harvest....................................................................11 tagging................................................................................................11 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.......................................................................................11 Juvenile survey........................................................................................11 american shad..........................................................................................13 blueback herring.......................................................................................18 alewife................................................................................................18 hickory shad...........................................................................................25 striped bass...........................................................................................25 atlantic sturgeon......................................................................................25 adult survey.................................................................................................25 abundance and distribution - gill nets.................................................................29 american shad..........................................................................................29 blueback herring.......................................................................................29 alewife................................................................................................29 hickory shad...........................................................................................36 striped bass...........................................................................................36 abundance - haul seine.......................................................................................36 american shad..........................................................................................36 blueback herring.......................................................................................40 hickory shad, alewife, striped bass....................................................................40 age and spawning frequency...................................................................................40 american shad..........................................................................................40 blueback herring.......................................................................................45 alewife................................................................................................49 hickory shad...........................................................................................49 striped bass...........................................................................................49 commerical and recreational harvest....................................................49 american shad.........................................................................49 river herring.........................................................................61 hickory shad..........................................................................61 striped bass..........................................................................62 sturgeon..............................................................................62 tagging.................................................................................62 spawning area survey....................................................................63 american shad.........................................................................63 river herring.........................................................................63 striped bass..........................................................................63 hickory shad..........................................................................73 summary and conclusions..................................................................73 acknowledgements.........................................................................78 literature cited.........................................................................79 ABSTRACT From 1 July 1975 to 30 June 1977, the various life stages of anadromous species were sampled in the Northeast Cape Fear River, North Carolina, Nursery areas were tentatively delineated for American shad, blueback herring, and alewife. Spawning areas of river herring and striped bass were identified. Growth, abundance, and seaward migration was determined for the anadromous Alosids. Ages of adult American shad were from three to eight. One percent-was found to repeat spawning. The sex ratio of those reaching the spawning area was approximately 5:1, male:female. Blueback herring were from age three to seven, alewife: three to six, hickory shad: three to six, and striped bass: two to nine. The abundance of adult American shad and blueback herring was greater during the 1977 run than during the 1976 run. The commercial and recreational fisheries for American shad were investigated and age, spawning frequency, and sex ratio were determined. Fork length of recreationally and commercially-harvested American shad were compared with those reaching the spawning area, which indicated the fisheries were taking primarily age five females. INTRODUCTION The importance of anadromous species to the total commercial finfish landings in North Carolina is shown by statistics of the National Marine Fisheries Service. For the 10-year period 1961,to 1970, anadromous species accounted for an average of 48 percent of the total edible finfish landings (Street and Pate, 1975). The importance of anadromous species to the recreational fishery of the state is not definitely known, but is considered to be sizable. The annual recreational fish harvest is estimated to be in the millions of pounds. A total of seven-,anadromous species enter North Carolina waters, in- cluding the striped bass (Horone saxatiZis), American shad (AZosa sapidissima), hickory shad (A. mediocris), blueback herring (A. aestivalis), alewife (A. pseudoharengue), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus), and shortnose sturgeon (A. brev'irostr=). The latter species may no longer occur in North Carolina. Anadromous species are considered both recreational and commercial fishes and are taken by standard commercial fishing gear. Significant recreational fisheries employ such devices as bow nets, staff nets, dip nets, gill nets, and seines, as well as hook-and-line fishing. The activity provides both products for public consumption.and significant recreational and social events affecting large numbers of resource users. Several studies of anadromous fish stocks have been completed in North Carolina. Stevenson's 1899 survey was updated in a report on the shad fisheries by Walburg and Nichols (1967). Specific studies have been conducted in the Neuse River (Walburg, 1957; LaPointe, 1958; Pate, 1972). Studies were im- plemented by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries in-the Albemarle Sound region in 1971 and in the Tar-Pamlico River in 1974. Baker (1968) published a reconnaissance survey of anadromous fish stocks in the inland waters of North Carolina. Hassler and others (1955-76) have done considerable work on striped bass in the Roanoke River. The passage of anadromous fish through the three navigational locks and the spawning and nursery areas of American shad and blueback herring in the Cape Fear River were described by Nichols and Louder (1970). Davis (1967) -2- estimated the shad run above Lock Number One and evaluated the recreational fishery for shad in the Cape Fear River. Davis and Cheek (1967) reported the distribution, food habits, and growth of juvenile American shad, blueback herring, and alewife in the Cape Fear, Northeast, and Black Rivers. Baker (1968) reported on the recreational harvest of American shad, hickory shad, striped bass, and river herring. Walburg and Nichols (1967) described the shad fishery of the Cape Fear River system. Bayless (1963) discussed the fishery resources of the Northeast Cape Fear River., Past research related to the anadromous fisheries resources of the Cape Fear Basin has provided some basic information; however, the type of detailed inventory surveys needed for management of the resources have not been under- taken. Such information could only be provided by field-oriented research which is not limited to short-time durations nor to specific portions of the anadromous fish habitat. A detailed field survey of the anadromous fish resources of this system should provide information on spawning and nursery areas, and size and utilization of present stocks. Future demands upon the habitat and fishery resources will require sound management program for which this information will-prove vital. Major objectives of the project were to determine spawning and nursery areas of all anadromous species; determine growth and movement of juvenile anadromous fishes; determine age and size composition of adults in the commercial and recreational harvests; and determine movement, distribution, and utiliztion of adults within the system. STUDY AREA The Northeast Cape Fear River is located in the southeastern coastal plain of North Carolina and is a major branch of the Cape Fear River (Figure 1). Its headwaters are in the town limits of Mt. Olive, and the river meanders southwest for approximately 200 km where it joins the Cape Fear River at Wilmington (Figure 2). The watershed encompasses approximately 453,441 hectares, which includes all of Duplin and Pender Counties and part of New Hanover County. 76 COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA SCALE -34 30 40 WLKS .34- 1110 10 10 78 77 716 Figure l.--Location map of the.Northeast Cape Fear River Kenansville Z4 1961 Wallace Is Cloams %vidle Nally Shelter Cr Borgaw Lillington Cr Laces Ferry C.- 0 ay e PO V* Ness Cr miligton C. Figure 2.--The Northeast Cape Fear River -5- The river drains three major swamps: Holly Shelter Swamp, Angola Swamp, and Sandy Run Pocosin. Approximately 80 percent of the watershed ts woodland and swamp with vast expanses of wilderness areas. There has been relatively little human impact on the river system. Wallace (population 3,500) is the largest town other than Wilmington. The principal industry is agriculture. Bayless (1963) gave a detailed description of the watershed. The lower eight km are estuarine with the salt wedge extending up to river km 13 during low flow periods. This area is characterized by brackish and fresh marshes and wooded swamps. It is also the most-developed and industrialized, including the city of Wilmington and its harbor. A 1.7 m tidal variation occurs in this area. Tidal flooding of adjacent marshes and swamps is the basic nutrient source for the lower Cape Fear River estuary. The river in this area is about 400 m wide with relatively high velocities due to tides. The bottom is sand and mud and depth ranges from 4 to 18 m. Up to Lillington Creek the flood plain is dominated by broad expanses of hardwood swamps. Being tidally influenced, the swamps are flooded and drained twice a day. This flooding action transports nutrients into the river and downstream to the estuary. The river is up to 300 m wide with a very irregular bottom. The average depth is about 6.5 m with occasional holes as much as 21 m deep. These holes are not stagnant because of the relatively swift currents. The river from Lillington Creek to Holly Shelter Creek has a narrow flood plain with swift currents. Hardwood trees line the bank with some dead water sloughs and flooded swamps off the main channel. The bottom is sandy and ranges in depth from 2 to 13 m. Above Holly Shelter Creek the river begins to shallow. The depth is gen- erally 1 m with occasional deeper pools. The flow is swift over shallows and slower in deeper pools. The bottom is composed of coarse sand. This section' is only about 10 m wide. The banks are very steep with some bluffs being 15 m high. There are numerous small tributaries and sloughs off the river where there is very little flow. The tributaries are typical swamp drainage stream . They are predominantly slow flowing with dark, acid-stained water. The major tributaries are Smith Creek, Long Creek, Prince George Creek, Island Creek, Harrison Creek, Buxgaw Creek, Holly Shelter Creek, Rockfish Creek, and Goshen Swamp (Figure 2). -6- MATERIALS AND METHODS Juvenile Survey A survey of Juvenile anadromous fishes was conducted from 1 July 1975 to 31 December 1976. The primary sampling method was a Carolina wing trawl with an 8 m. headrope. A 3.2 mm. bar mesh tail bag was used. Twenty-six trawl stations primarily sampled the top 3 m. of the water coll-n. However, due to the extreme depths, six stations were also sampled on the bottom below Lane's Ferry to capture striped bass and sturgeon (Figure 3). A standard unit-of- effort was a ten-minute tow with the wing trawl. Due to the shallow depths of the upper river that section was sampled with 18.4.m. seines. Bags of 3.2 mm. bar mesh were used on the seine to capture all size ranges. There was a total of seven seine stations (Figure 3) with one haul counting as one unit-of-effort. - All alosids were preserved in the field with.10 percent formalin and later sorted to species, weighed, and measured (FL, mm). Captured striped bass and sturgeon were measured and released alive, when possible. Identi- fication of specimens was based on Lippson and Moran (1974). Subsamples of 30 specimens of each species were examined when large samples were encountered. In addition, top and bottom temperatures, depth, bottom type, and river stage were noted at each station each month. Adult Survey Adult anadromous fish were sampled from January through May 1976 and 1977. Sampling was conducted primarily with various mesh gill nets. Surface nets of 45.9 m, 18.4 m, and 9.2 m. lengths, with meshes of 6.4 an, 7.0 cm, 8.3 cm, 10.2 cm, 12.4 cm" 13.3 cm, 14.0 cm, and 15.4 cm. stretched were used. They were anchored and left for 24 hours. The'larger meshes were set in mid-river to catch shad while small mesh nets were set along the edge for river herring. The river was divided into three sampling areas. They are as follow: Area 1 - mouth to Lane's Ferry, Area 2 - Lane's Ferry to Crooms' Bridge, and Area 3 - Crooms' Bridge to NC 11 (Figure 4). Each area was sampled at least once a month, and or 24 1961 ep Ilace CTOOMS ItL Rally Shelter Cr lorgaw Lillington C, Lanes Ferry a$tle ayne 4, ess Cr TRAW1 Wilmington Surface 0 Surface & Bottom0 00 0 Ge SEINE % Figure 3.--Juvenile sampling stations, Northeast Cape Fear River. or P# Kenanswille 4. 24 61 CT er Wallace lee roams Bridge Holly Shelter Cr lorgaw illingtOn Cr ants Ferry Ot Vie a lee Ness Cr -C, C, Wilmington Area I 00 OCe Area 2 % C. doll Area 3 Bridge sta!ion Figure 4.--Adult sampling areas.and bridge stations, Northeast Cape Fear River. -9- for the most part were sampled twice a month. Each major tributary was sampled a'minimum of twice per month. Gill nets were also set at-bridges to determine adult distribution (Figure 4). Equal efforts of each mesh size was used to sample all segments of the population equally. One standard fishing unit was considered to be 91.4 m of net set for 24 hours. Catch per effort (C/e) of herring was based on the amount of small mesh nets set, shad on large mesh nets, and striped bass on total units. From 22 March through 14 May 1976 and from 7 March through 25 April 1977, a haul seine was used to sample adults. The seine was located about 8 km below the NC 53 bridge (Figure 27). The seine was 68.6 m long, with 6.4 cm stretched mesh. It was operated one day per week during the sampling periods except the week of 14 March 1977 when high water prevented sampling. All adults captured in gill nets and haul seines were weighed, measured (FL, mm), sexed, and spawning condition noted as immature, mature, ripe, running- ripe, and spent. In addition, scales were taken from the left side below the dorsal fin. Aging was done by the annuli and spawning mark method with the scale edge counted as a yearmark as described by Cating (1953), Beal (1968), and Street and Adams (1969). Several clear scales from each fish were read with a binocular microscope. Two readings were made, and those disagreeing were discarded. Spawning Area Survey A survey of spawning areas was conducted from 14 March through 22 May 1976 and from 20 March through 14 May 1977. Half meter plankton nets with #00 mesh were used to sample eggs and larvae. Samples were taken twice a month at each juvenile station (Figure 5). All samples were towed or anchored for five minutes at the surface, and where possible, for five minutes close to the bottom depend- ing upon the amount of current. In addition, random samples were taken where spawning was suspected to occur. Samples were taken twice monthly at each gill net bridge station. A five-minute tow with the plankton net was considered to be one unit of effort. Samples were fixed in the field with 10 percent formalin and later preserved in a 2 percent solution. Finally they were sorted and identified. Identification was based on Lippson and Moran (1974) and Chambers (1969). Alewife and blueback herring eggs and prolarvae were combined _10- Olt Kenanswille % 24 961 tt Wallace fee Olt %ridge Holly Shelter Cr sorgaw Lillington Cr Lanes Ferry C.- Ib ayne me ss Cr Wi Mington 0 Surface and bottom e 0 Surface-only ION Figure 5.--Egg net sampling stations, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. and called river herring due to the difficulty in distinguishing between the two. The occurrence of a running-ripe,female was also considered to be evidence of a spawning area. Visual observation of spawning was also noted. Commercial and Recreational Harvest Harvest sampling was conducted at fish markets and fishermen's houses, primarily on weekends when most fishing occurred. Sampling was primarily limited to drift net catches due to an inability to locate and obtain samples from anchor gill net fishermen. Samples were taken whenever possible from fishermen on the river and at landings. These were considered to be unculled. Measurements (FL) were taken along with sex and scales for aging. Tagging Tagging of striped bass and sturgeon was done whenever a specimen was found. Fish were tagged with Floy Dart tags. Specimens were obtained primarily from the haul seine and gill nets. Measurements and striped bass scales were taken from tagged fish. Rewards of up to $25 were offered for the return of tags and information. Tagging was widely publicized with posters and in local newspapers. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Juvenile Survey A total of 3,528 Juvenile fishes, including blueback herring (2,739), alewife (313), American shad (427), hickory shad (17), striped bass (27) and Atlantic sturgeon (5) were captured in Northeast Cape Fear River during the study period (Table 1). Surface sampling with the wing trawl was found to be effective in capturing anadromous clupeids. Due to the depth of the river, striped bass and sturgeons could not be sampled at the surface because of their relatively demersal habits. As a result, samples were taken at the river bottom in those areas free of hangs. Due to the limited area sampled, a true picture of the juvenile distribution of stri ed bass and sturgeon was I-P not found. -12- TABLE l.--Relative abundance of juvenile anadromous fish by gear for the 1975- 1976 classes, Northeast Cape Fear River. Wing trawl Wing trawl Total Method (surface) (bottom) Seine number Year Class 1975 1976 1975 1976 1975 1976 1975 1976 Effort 187 175 37 42 44 43 American shad Catch 178 79 151 19 329 98 C/e 0.95 0.45 3.43 0.44 Blueback herring Catch 629 1762 58 290 687 2052 C/e 3.36 10.07 1.32 6.74 Alewife Catch 127 185 1 127 186 C/e 0.68 1.06 0.02 Hickory shad Catch 14 3 17 C/e 0.08 0.07 Striped bass Catch 16- 2 9 16 11 C/e 0.43 0.05 0.21 Atlantic sturgeon Catch 3 2 3 2 C/e 0.08 0.05 Total 1162 2366 -13- The relative abundance of each species for each sampling method and year class is shown in Table 1, excluding February through May 1976 samples, when no Anadromous, juveniles were captured. American shad Juvenile American shad were found throughout the river system up to the SSR 1961 bridge (Figure 6). Davis and Cheek (1967) reported that young shad were found up to NC 24 bridge. During both years there appeared to be two major nursery concentrations - from the river mouth to Lane's Ferry, and from Cypress Creek to SSR 1961. Only an occasional individual was found in between. In addition to the major concentrations found in the river, juveniles were also found in certain tributaries. Table 2 shows their relative abundance in the tributaries compared to the river. Certain tributaries had a higher C/e.value than the river, but, the overall C/e was greater in the river than in the t ributaries. This indicated that although young shad use the tributaries, their major nursery is in the main stem of the river. Juvenile American shad were found in the river until December 1975 and 1976. Their greatest occurrence was during August of both years with a seaward migration occurring during September and October (Figure 7) when the water temperature dropped. Those fish in the river after October were found in the lower part. The largest specimen observed during the study period was 83 mm (FL), slightly smaller than observed by Davis and Cheek (1967) during 1964-65 for the same river. Figure 8 shows' the mean monthly fork length of Juvenile American shad for the 1975-76 year classes. Table 1 indicates the 1976 year class was significantly less abundant than the..1975. The low density of juvenile American shad is probably a result of the low adult run observed during the spring of 1976. 24 1961 Wallace #00 CA kk %ridge HOlly Shelter Cr torlaw )Lillingt#g Cr 0 Lanes Ferry Mr- C.- Iss Cr d C' wilmiftstow Oce Nursery area C. Figure 6.--Nursery area of American shad, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. TABLE 2.-- Relative abundance of juvenile anadromous clupeids in the tributaries as compared to the Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. American shad Blueback herring_ Alewife Year Class 1975 1976 1975 1976 1975 1976 Catch C/e Catch C/e Catch C/e Catch C/e Catch C/e Catch C/e River 145 1.48 59 0.66 107 1.09 551 6.19 79 0.81 100 1.12 Smith Creek 5 0.83 5 0.83 25 3.57 178 29.67 3 0.43 2 0.33 Ness Creek 9 1.50 1 0.17 336 56.-0 237 39.50 29 4.83 2 0.33 Long Creek 7 0.64 2 0.17 7 0.58 155 12.92 5 0.42 38 3.17 Turkey Creek 11 1.83 5 0.83 73 12.17 208 34.67 4 0.67 29 4.83 Prince George Creek 4 0.67 1 0.17 9 1.50 103 17.17 2 0.33 0 0 Island Creek 1 0.17 1 0.17 11 1.83 299 49.83 0 0 5 0.83 Harrison Creek 1 0.17 5 0.83 5 0.83 11 1.83 0 0 4 0.67 Merrick Creek 2 0.40 0 0 46 11.50 20 3.33 2 0.50 5 0.83 Lillington Creek 1 0.17 0 0 1 0.17 0 0 1 0.17 0 0 TOTAL Tributaries 41 0.73 20 0.37 513 9.16 1211 22.43 46 0.82 85 1.57 Ln -16- SE I HE 14.0 1975 c/e 2-o - 1976 ------- 0 L June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Doc Jan F:b Mar Apr May Month 5.0 TRAWL 4.0 1975- C/e 3.0 - 1976 - - ----- 2.0 - 1.0 - June July Aug Sep Oct Now Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Month Figure 7.--Monthly catch per effort of juvenile American shad, Northeast Cape Fear River,.1975-1976. -17- 80 70 60 0111 .0- S'O loll# 1975 1976 --------- 4 0 0 L June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month Figure.8.--Mean monthly fork length of juvenile American shad., Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -18- Blueback herring Juvenile blueback herring were found from July through December 1975 and from June through November 1976. They were caught throughout the river system up to Holly Shelter Creek. During 1976 they were also found approximately 8 km above Crooms' Bridge (Figure 9). They were also found in most of the major tributaries. Table 2 shows the relative abundance of blueback in each tributary. In addition, other sample methods showed them to occur in Buggaw and Holly Shelter Creeks. Unlike American shad, blueback herring were more abundant in the tributaries than the river during both years. The peak occurance of juvenile blueback was in November during 1975 and in September and October of 1976 (Figure 10). This was probably due to the increased availability of those fish moving from the upper tributaries and back- waters to the lower river on their seaward migration. Migration normally occurs during October and November. Juvenile bluibacks reached a mean length of 60 mm in December, 1975 and 51 mm in November, 1976 (Figure 11). The abundance of juvenile blueback herring was much higher in 1976 than in 1975 (Table 1). Alewife Young alewife were distributed throughout the river system up to Lillington Creekin 1975 and above-N C 5.3 in 1976 (Figure .12). The greatest concentration was found below Lane's Ferry with only an occasional individual being caught up the river during both years. Davis and Cheek (1967) reported capturing juvenile alewife up to Lane's Ferry. Alewife were found in about equal numbers in the river and the tributaries during both years (Table 2). The major concentrations were found in the lower river and tributaries. Alewife remained in the river until November of both years. The peak occurrence during 1975 was in September. During 1976 a high abundnace was observed during June, with a peak again in September (Figure 13). The June concentration was probably those fish moving downstream to nursery areas lower in the Cape Fear estuary. During November 1975, they reached a mean fork length of 59 mm compared to a length of 64 mm in November 1976 (Figure 14). 24 1961 Wallace 10 4b CTOOMS Nally Shelter Cr lorgaw 1 f e * ( illington Cr Lanes Ferry '"N A stle- 44 a: ess Cr Cr Wilmington ceO t 0 Nursery a rea Figure 9.--Nursery area of blueback herring, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -20- 20- 7RAWL 15 1975 1976 c/e 10 - 5 0 L Apt May June July Aug Sep Oct Key Dee Jan Feb Mar Month 4 0 - SEINE 3 0 - 1975 1976 -------- C/e 2 0 - 10 - 0 Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Month Figure 10.--Monthly catch per effort of juvenile bluAack herring, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -21- 6 0 5 !r - 50 4 5 1975 4 0 1976 ------- 3 5 3 1 0 June J U'Iy Aug Sep Oct Nov Occ Month Figure ll.--Mean monthly fork length of juvenile blueback herring, Northeast Cape Fear River, 19.75-1976. -22- Or 24 0 1961 a Ilace ctoo ms vidge CL ft 5511olly Shelter Cr Borlaw 0 Lillington Cr A Lanes Ferry %X I CL Oak 4% ss Cr er Wilmington 0 C. e Nursery area % C. 1>1 Figure 12.--Nursery area of alewife, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -23- 6.0 5.0 4 4.0 1975 c/e 3.0 - 1976 2.0 - j ------ Apr May June July Avg Sep Oct Nov Dec Ian Feb Mar Month Figure 13.-Monthly catch per effort of juveni le alewife_for wing trawl samples, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -24- 6 5 6 0 So - 1975 1976 -------- 3 5 ------------ 30 0 hne July Aug Sep Oct Now Dec Month Figure 14.--Mean monthly fork length of juvenile alewife, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -25- Hickory shad Juvenile hidkory shad were found only during June 1976 and June 1977. Figure 15 shows their capture locations for both years. It is believed they were migrating out of the river to nursery areas just offshore as proposed by Godwin and Ada- (1969). They.hAd a mean fork length of 30 mm in June 1976 and 35 mm June 1977. Striped bass Young striped bass were found from Lane's Ferry to the river mouth-(Vigure-- 16). They were captured infrequently, and their highest C/e occurred during January 1976 (Figure 17). This was probably due to downstream migration and concentration in deeper water. None were found after June 1976. Monthly growth rates were not determined due to their infrequent capture and small sample size. Atlantic sturgeon A total of five immature Atlantic sturgeon were captured at river km 8 during the study period. They ranged from 340-774 mm and were probably moving downstream. This evidence indicates that a spawning population of sturgeon may exist in the Northeast Cape Fear River, Adult Survey From January through May 1976, a total of 63 American shad, 126 blueback herring, 56 alewife, 29 hickory shad, and 16 striped bass were cau ht in gill nets and haul seines. During March and April 1977, a total of 65 American shad, 294 blueback herring, 24 alewife, 36 hickory shad, and 10 striped bass were caught. The adult runs did not begin until March 1977, probably due to the abnormally cold winter. However, water temperatures rose rapidly and by the end of April no adult activity was observed. During a "normal" winter and spring the runs begin in January and lasts into May. -26- Kell a a sve 24 1961 ell Ct IA'3661 Wallace e, .A *ft . ;& I't Cloon's ITIdge Holly Shelter Cr Surgaw "51 "llingto a Cr ILA Lanes Ferry a$tle 0 ay e Ness Cr Cr Wilmington 1976 0 19i6 &1977 0 C. 1977 A Figure 15.--Capture locations of juvenile hickory shad, Northeast Cape.Fear River, 1976-1977. -27- Kenansville 4% 24 1961 Wallace CIO S13Holly Shelter Cr lorgaw 11@4 Cr Lanes Ferry astle C1. ay e z a ae ess r O#Y Cr Wilmington 1975 0 OCe 1975 & 1976 C. Figure 16.--Capture locations of juvenile striped bass, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -28- 1.4 1.3- 1.2. 09 0.8- C/e o.7- 0.6- 0.5 OA 0.3 0.2- 01 0.0 July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Month Figure 17.--Monthly catch per effort of juvenile striped bass, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1975-1976. -29- Abundance and Distribution Gill Nets American shad Sampling adult American shad with anchored gill nets proved to be im- practical due to the high current velocities. Only 18 adults were caught during the study period by this method. The haul seine proved to be the best method of capture, but it was fished at only one location. Gill net sampling indicated a higher abundance of adult American shad- during the 1977 run than during 1976 (Table 3). Adult American shad did not travel as far up the river in 1976 as in 1977 due to drought conditions. During 1976, gill net sampling resulted in the capture of one adult above Crooms' Bridge. None were found in the tributaries. They first entered the lower river during February and remained until May (Figure 18). They did not enter the river until March 1977 when the water temperature reached approximately 100C and remained through April. They were found up to Maxwell Creek. Figure 19 shows the distribution of adult American shad in the Northeast Cape Fear River during the springs of 1976-77. Blueback herring Adult blueback herring were significantly more abundant during 1977 than during 1976. They were found in the Northeast Cape Fear River during March and April of 1976-77 and May of 1976 with the greatest abundance during March and April (Figure 20). During 1976, they were found as far upstream as Crooms' Bridge and above NC 53 during 1977. The follwoing tributaries were found to contain runs of bluebacks: Smith Creek, Long Creek, Turkey Creek, Pike Creek, Lillington Creek and Burgaw Creek (Figure 21). Alewife Alewife was the only adult alosid showing a decrease in abundance during 1977 compared to 1976 (Table 3). They first entered the river during February 1976 and March 1977 and remained until April (Figure 22). Gill nets caught them as far upstream as Lillington Creek. They were found in the following tributaries: Long Creek, Turkey Creek, Prince George Creek, Pike Creek and Lillington Creek. Catches indicate that adult alewife ran earlier, but they were not distributed as far upstream as blueback herring, -30- TABLE 3.--Annual C/e of adult anadromous fish for gill net samples, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. 1976 1977 Catch C/e Catch C/e American shad 7 0.38 11 0.84 Hickory shad 3 0.21 6 0.46 Blueback herring 40 2.84 106 8.15 Alewife 53 3.76 16 1.23 Striped bass 10 0.31 6 0.23 1.6 1.4 1976 1977 - - - - - - - L2 @e 16 - .4 .2 0 )an Mar Apr May June Month r Figure 18.-"Gill net catch per effort of adult American shad, by month, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -32- Kenansville 24 1961 lo. 1977 Wallace *Ock 1976 C Holly Shelter Cr N ism Burgaw e, L jl* Inglon Cr If ItA Lanes Ferry tie I Cr -P, -Yfte 4. 0 hess Cr C, Wilmington 00 0C.06 C. oft \ Figure 19.--Distributio'n of adult American shad, 1976-1977. -33- 10 9 s 1976 1977 ------- 6 @e s .4 3 2 0 hn Feb Mar Apr May June Month Figure 20.--Gill net catch per effort of adult blueback herring by month, Northeaat Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -34- All- 24 tell crvmS )Ially Shelter C), deI Ii0inglon Cr Lane$ Ferry 147 Zt ess Cc t er Wilmington 0 C, blueback herring present. % C, t Figute 21--Di9trIbLition of adult blueback herring, 1976-1977. Pyle, -35- 13 - 12 - 10 1976 1977 c/e 6 4 - 3 - 2 - 0 Ian Feb Mar Apr May Month Figure 22.-- Gill net catch per effort of adult alewife by month, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -36- Hickory shad Only nine adult hickory shad were caught in gill nets during the runs of 1976 and 1977. They were slightly more abundant in 1977 than in 1976. Hickory shad were found in the river up to Sanderson's seine and up to NC 210 in Long Creek, primarily during March of both years. Striped bass Striped bass were found throughout the spring with the greatest abundance occurring during April of both years (Figure 23). Gill net samples produced them as far upstream as Pike Creek; however, they range further as indicated by haul seine sampling. Four young individuals were found in Turkey Creek during May 1976. In addition, mature adults were found in Smith and Ness Creeks during March 1977. Abundance - Haul Seine American shad Haul seine samples indicated American shad were slightly less abundant during 1977 than in 1976 (Table 4), although gill net samples indicated a higher abundance. However, gill net samples were taken predominatly down- stream while the commercial fishery was taking place. Adult shad were caught during March, April and May 1976 and during March and April 1977. Peak C/e occurred during April of both years (Figure 24). Haul seine sampling produced unique data due to its location (Figure 27). The bulk of the shad fishing took place down river from the seine, As a result, the fish caught in the seine essentially represented escapement into the spawning areas. Although no reliable information exists on the unexploited population when it entered the river, the seine data were very useful. Abundance for both years was extremely low compared to what I personally remember catching ten years ago in the same seine. The male-female ratio was 4.7:1 in 1976 and 5:1 in 1977. This is probably due to the selectivity of the fishery downstream -37- c/e .6 - S .2- Ian Feb Mat Apr May June Month Figure 23.-Gill net catch per effort of adult striped bass by-month, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -38- TABLE 4.--Total annual C/e of adult anadromous fish,for haul seine samples, 1976-1977. Number 1976 Number 1977 hauls Catch C/e hauls Catch C/e- 113 114 American shad 56 0.50 54 0.47 Hickory shad 26 0.23 30 0.26 Blueback herring 85 0.75 188 1.65 Alewife 3 0.03 8 0.07 Striped bass 2 0.02 3 0.03 -39- 1.4 L2 1976 1977 ------- 1.0 C/e .6- .4 - .2 - March April Mjy WEEK Figure 24.--Haul seine catch per effort of adult American shad, Northeast Capp Fear River, 1976-1977. -40- for "roes". In addition, some individuals examined had net scars, numerous scales removed and bloody spots on the back and sides behind the operculum. This information suggests that the American shad population is very low, possibly due in part to intensive fishing pressure in the lower river which prevents sufficient spawning escapement of females. Blueback herring Adult bluebacks were the most abundant species caught in the haul seine, with 273 fish taken during both years. They were substantially more abundant during 1977 than during 1976 (Table 4). This agrees with the results of the gill net survey. They were present and equally abundant during March and April (Figure 25). Hickory shad, Alewife, Striped bass Adult hickory shad were found to be only slightly more abundant in 1977 than in 1976 (Table 4). They were found to run earlier than other species with peak C/e occuring during the last week of March during both years (Figure 26). In addition, only a few alewife and striped bass were caught. The seine is believed to be located too far up river to catch many alewife. Striped bass were once caught frequently at this seine, but during the 1976-77 run very few were captured. Age and Spawning Frequency American shad Because of the small number of shad caught by our gill nets, age, lengths, and spawning frequency data were combined with that from fish captured in the haul seine. As found in other state work, male American shad were predominately four years old and females were five. Males ranged from three to six years and females from four to seven (Table 5). The mean fork lengths generally agree with those found in other areas of North Carolina (Table 6). The male-female -41- 3.0 1976 2.0 1977 ------- c /e M a rc b 'A ril M a'y WEEK Figure 25.--Haul seine catch per effort of adult blueback herring, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -42- 1976 c /e .6 1977 ------- CIS 0 L March April May WEEK Figure 26.--Haul seine catch per effort of adult hickory shad, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -43- TABLE 5.--Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length, and length range for each age group by sex for American shad, 1976-1977. Total Percent of Mean fork Length Sex Age number total sample length (mm) range (mm) Male 111 4 4 370 363-375 IV 77 76 390 341-427 V 20 19 425 395-446 VI 1 1 460 102 Female IV 2 8 436 430-442 V 17 65 463 430-492 VI 5 19 498 489-510 VII 2 8 519 517-520 26 TABLE 6..--Age and mean fork length (mm) of American shad from Northeast Cape Fear compared to other areas of North Carolina. Age III IV V VI VII VIII IX Sex M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Location Northeast Cape Fear River 370 390 436 425 463 460 498 519 1 Albemarle Sound 359 400 437 432 473 450 498 461 540 476 509 571 Neuse River2 386 376 422 429 472 513 3 Pamlico Sound and River 334 415 445 437 481 456 494 470 489 485 522 549 4 Offshore North Carolina 459 451 458 467 486 488 1Street and Pate, 1975 2La Pointe, 1958; Calculated fork length in inches converted to mm 3Marshall, 1976 4 Holland and Yelverton, 1973 (sexes combined) 4- -45- sex ratio was 4.7:1 from haul seine samples in 1976. In 1977, the haul seine produced a sex ratio of 5.0:1 male-female; however, gill net samples downstream showed a sex ratio of 0.8:1 male-female. The haul seine which is located up- stream from the fishery is believed to be representative of the spawning escapement. Although the gill net sample size was too small to draw any con- clusions (N = 11), the haul seine data did indicate an unequal sex ratio of adult American shad existed after fishing occurred. American shad in the Nurtheast Cape Fear River spawn only once. Oiit of a total of 365 scale samples aged, only five were found to have a spawning mark. This conclusion was confirmed by independent readings and thus far is believed to be the southernmost indication of American shad spawning repetition. Three males ages four and five, and two females ages five and eight were found to be repeaters. Blueback herring Blueback herring ranged in age from three to seven years. Males were predominantly four and five, and females were five (Table 7). The mean fork lengths for each age group agree closely with those found in other investigations in North Carolina (Table 8). There was a high proportion of females compgred to males, resulting in a sex ratio of 2.3:1 from the 1976 haul seine samples. Gill nets sampled in 1976 also produced a higher number of females with a 1.2:1 female-male ratio. However, in 1977 haul seine samples resulted in a 1.6:1 female-male ratio while gill nets showed a 1.7:1 male-female ratio. The combined sex ratio was 1.1:1 female-male. The relatively large mesh (6.4cm) of the seine was felt to be selective for females because some small bluebacks believed to be males were observed going through the net primarily during the latter part of the run. Repeat spawning was considerably less than that found in the Albemarle Sound (50 percent - Street and Pate, 1975) and Tar River (70 percent - Pate, 1975) areas of North Carolina. Only 16 percent of the Northeast Cape Fear River blueback herring sampled showed evidence of prior spawning. Virgin fish accounted for 82 percent of the females and 88 percent of the males samples. None were found to have more than two spawning marks (Table 9). -46- TABLE 7.--Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length, and length range for each age group by sex for blueback herring, 1976-1977. Wt-di, Percent of Mean fork Length Sex Age number total sample length (mm.) range(mm) Male 111 10 6 231 213-239 IV 92 54 242 221-258 v 66 39 253 225-268 vi 3 2 264 263-364 171 Female 111 2 <1 239 238-240 IV 38 17 247 233-260 v 169 71 262 246-277 vi 21 9 275 262-293 VII 1 <1 275 231 TABLE 8.--Age and mean forl@ length (mm) -of blueback herring from Northeast Cape Fear compared to other areas of North Carolina, 1976-1977. Age III IV V VI VII VIII Ix Sex M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Location Northeast Cape Fear River 231 239 242 247 253 262 264 275 275 Albemarle Sound1 229 244 237 248 247 257 251 264 259 270 270 280 307 Offshore North 2 Carolina 208 219 235 255 270 280 Tar River3 238 244 250 255 258 266 264 275 279 291 White Oak River4 219 237 242 247 258 249 265 280 1Street and Pate, 1975 2Holland and Velverton, 1973 (sexes combined) 3 Marshall, 1976 4Sholar, 1975 -48- TABLE 9.--Age and spawning frequency of blueback herring, 1976-1977 combined. Number of spawning marks 0 1 2 Total Age M F M F M F M F 111 10 2 10 2 IV 86 50 6 92 50 V 54 132 10 28 1 65 160 V1 .1 6 3 9 1 5 5 20 vii 1 1 Total 151 190 19 38 2 5 172 233 Percent (88) (82) (11) (16) (1) (2) -49- Alewif e Adult alewife ranged in age from three to six years. Males were pre- dominantly four years old and females were four and five (Table 10)., The male:female sex ratio was 2.2:1 in 1976. However, in 1977 the sex ratio was 0.9:1 male-female. Females were observed to repeat more than males. Eighty- four percent of the females and 96 percent of the males were virgin (Table 11). This is a low frequency of repeat spawning compared to those from the Albe- marle Sound area of North Carolina (Street and Pate, 1975), None were found with more than two spawning marks. Hickory shad Hickory shad ranged from three to six years in age. Males were predominately four and females four and five (Table 12). The sex ratio was 1.5 males to 1 female in 1976 and 0.5:1 male-female in 1977. Males were found to repeat slightly more than females. Twenty-seven percent of the males examined showed evidence of prior spawning while 23 percent of the females were repeaters (Table 13). Some males had two spawning marks while no female was found with more than one spawning mark. Striped bass Striped bass ranged from two to nine years of age. Of 29 captured, there were 20 males and 9 females (Table 14). Commercial and Recreational Harvest American shad The primary method of harvest of American shad in the Northeast Cape Fear River is drift gill nets from 45.7 m to 91.4 m in length, with 14 an stretched mesh. Drift net fishing occurs primarily below Lane's Ferry. Above Lane's Ferry -50- TABLE 10.--Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length, and fork length range for each age group by sex for alewife, 1976-1977. Total Percent of Mean fork Length Sex Age number total sample length (mm) range (mm) Male 111 1 2 226 IT 41 85 239 225-253 V 5 11 250 244-261 VI 1 2 270 48 Female IV 15 47 247 238-259 V 16 50 263 250-272 vi 1 3 275 32 -51- TABLE ll.--Age and spawning frequency of alewife, 1976-1977 combined. Number of spawning marks 0 1 2 Total Age M F M F M F M F IV 39 15 39 15 v 2 11 2 4 4 15 VI 2 -1 2 1 Total 44 26 2 4 1 46 31 Percent (96) (84) (4) (13) (3) -52- TABLE 12.-- Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length and length range for each age group by sex for hickory shad, 1976-1977. Percent of Mean fork Length Sex Age Total total sample length (mm) range (mm) Male 111 6 20 285 264-302 IV 17 57 308 282-324 v 6 20 352 311-409 vi 1 3 433 30 Female IV 19 54 343 304-390 v 16 46 357 325-396 35 -53- TABLE 13.--Age and spawning frequency of hickory shad, 1976-1977. Number of spawning marks 0 1 2 Total Age M F M F M F M F 111 8 8 10 16 4 2 14 18 IV V 3 11 1 6 2 6 17 V1 I- I Total 21 27 5 8 3 29 35 Percent (72) (77) (17) (23) (10) -54- TABLE 14.--Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length and length range for striped bass, 1976-1977, sexes combined. Total Percent of Mean fork Length Age number total samples length (mm) range (mm) 7 24 271 240-282 4 14 328 281-354 IV 3 10 428 340-490 V 7 24 542 471-589 VI 2 7 557 550-564 VII 4 14 777 699-805 VIII 0 Ix 2 7 830 830 29 -55- fishing is done with short, anchored gill nets. These range from 9.2 m to 27.4 m and are set primarily at bends in eddies due to the swift current. These nets are set perpendicular to the current. Placing them in series from opposite banks, they may actually block the river at times. Also, there are five haul seines operating in the Northeast Cape Fear River. They are located from Holly Shelter Creek to Muddy Creek (Figure 27). They are jointly owned by families or communities, and are fished for personal consumption. Only one net is rented out by the day. Even this activity is not commercial, but mostly for groups to catch fish for cookouts and personal consumption. Historically, there were many seines in the river. Cobb (1906:16) reported that "In 1896 there were operated on this river ... 17 seines .... A number--of" seine-beaches have not been worked for some years now, owing to the scarcity of fish." Seines are currently operated by hand by the use of ropes across the river. This very effective method of fishing is currently operated in much the sayne way as it was during the colonial period when seining first began. The bulk of the shad landed during the 1976-77 run came from drift gill nets below Lane's Ferry. These were recreational fishermen who sold the fish they caught in excess of what they wanted for personal consumption. There were only a few commercial shad fishermen. They were primarily men who have fished many years in the same areas. Fishing began during February and lasted well into May in 1976. In 1977, fishing did not begin until March due to the unusually cold winter and lasted through April. During the peak of the 1976 run, as many as 25 shad were caught per drift gill net fisherman per day. How- ever, in 1977 fishermen reported catching as many as 60 fish per day. An average day produced approximately 20 fish per boat. Personal observation of fishing revealed that approximately twice as much effort was being put into the shad fishery during March and April 1977 than during 1976. This was probably due to a greater abundance of fish. There pLppeared to be a greater number of fishermen in 1977 and each was making more trips per season. The high fishing success may not have been due to a higher abundance of fish, but to the shortened season. The number of fish that would normally run were confined to a shorter time period dire to cold water temperature, increasing the density of fish and making fishing more successful. -56- 24 1961 C, Wall croo ms gridle Holly Shelter Cr Sanderson's Seine Bergaw Lillington C, Lanes Ferry astle cr ay 4. 0 mess Cr c.P Wilmington Haul seines Oc'e61% %c. Figure 27.--Locationo@ haul seines, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -57- The anchored gill net fishermen caught fewer fish than the drift netters. Personal communication with fishermen revealed that a 9.2 m. net averaged only 20-30 fish during the entire season in 1976 and 100-150 per season during 1977. There were approximately 228.5 m. (250 yards) of anchored shad nets set during both years. They were set during February and March and left until mid-May in 1976. Fishing was limited primarily to March and April in 1977. most were not lifted the entire season. They were fished and cleaned out at least once a day, and most were fished twice a day. The haul seines were operated from March to May. The three seines below Crooms' Bridge produced a reasonable amount of fish while the other two were rarely fished during the season. Sanderson's seine, which is rented out, produced the greatest catch because it was operated most frequently. During one day in April 1976, a total of 96 shad were caught between 6 AM and 6 PM, the best day reported during both the 1976 and 1977 seasons. During the 1977 season, groups renting Sanderson's haul seine were given logs and asked to keep records of their catches and the number of hauls made. Catches were recorded by species and sex for American shad and hickory shad. Since the Division was sampling with the same haul seine one day per week, comparisions of the Division's C/e were made with those reported by fishermen. T-tests revealed no significant differences in C/e between Division samples and fishermen reports except for female American shad (Table 15). This difference was significant at the 95 percent confidence limit but was not significant.at the 99 percent limit. The fishermen's records appear to be valid and should be continued. The data could be useful in the future as an indicator of abundance and spawning escapement throughout the season, Sampling commercial catches vas limited primarily to the drift net fisher- men due to difficulties in locating other fishermen with catches. However, the length, sex, and age data-should be generally the same as that obtained from the drift net fishermen since they were using the same mesh size (14.0 cm.). A total of 237 scale samples were suitable for aging. Ages ranged from four to eight years. Males were predominantly age four and females five (Table 16). Figure 28 compares the length frequencies of shad from the drift nets with those samples by our gill nets and haul seine. The bulk of the gill net harvested -58- TABLE 15.--T-test comparison of the Division's weekly C/e and fishermsn's reported weekly C/e of adult anadromous fishes, Sanderson's haul seine, 1977. Total Total- Division Fishermen Significant difference - C/e C/e D. F. T Value at 95% confidence American shad male 0.36 0.53 13 1.35 no American shad female 0.07 0.31 13 2.32 yes Hickory shad male 0.08 0.03 13 1.73 no Hickory shad female 0.18 0.10 13 0.96 no River Herring 1.58 1.52 13 0.80 no -59- TABLE 16.--Total number, percent of total sample, mean fork length and length range for each age group by sex,for commercially-harvested American shad, 1976-.1977. Percent of Mean fork Length Sex Age Total number total sample length (mm) range-(mm) Male 111 1 1 360 IV 45 48 396 370-434 V 42 45 434 400-475 VI 4 4 470 460-480 VII 2 2 494 477-510 94 Female IV 14 10 432 402-450 V 103 72 460 420-500 VI 23 16 489 457-520 VII 2 1 513 510-515 VIII 1 <1 557 143 -60- 2 0 Female 15- w 10- 'CL 5- 0 400 10 20 30 40 50 60 70. 80 90 500 10 20 Fork Length Commercial Harvest 25 ale Seine Samples ----------- 20 15- w 10- 5 01 340 50 60 ;0 80 90 400 10 20 30 40 so 60 70 so 90 500 fork length Figure 28.--Length frequency of commer'cially-harvested and haul seine-sampled American shad, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -61- females ranged between 440 mm and 490 mm. Smaller male shad were taken in the seine samples than by the drift net fishermen. T-tests comparing the fork lenghts of unculled commercially-harvested shad and seine-and gill net-sampled shad revealed a significant difference for both females (t = 2.86 at 84 d.f.) and males (t = 32.46 at 133 d.f.) at 95 percent confidence. This indicates the fishery is selective for age five females. The sex ratio of American shad was computed fram samples taken from fishermen before they reached the fish house or before any fish were sold or culled. The unculled ratio was 1.1:1, males to females during 1976 compared to a seine sex ratio of 4.7:1, male-female. During the 1977 run, unculled fishermen samples produced a sex ratio of 0.46 male-female compared to a 5:1 male-fpTnnle ratio observed from haul seines and gill net samples. This also indicates the fishery is selective for the more valuable females. River herring Only a limited amount of herring fishing is done in the Northeast Cape Fear River. Some herring are caught in gill nets set in swamps and sloughs off the river, and some fishermen were observed drifting herring nets in the river during the 1977 run. They are not caught to sell but for personal con- sumption or to bait catfish traps and trot lines. Very few samples of river herring were obtained from fishermen. As a result, no conclusions can be made concerning age composition or length frequencies, The bulk of the herring harvested in the Northeast Cape Fear River was by haul seines. Communication with fishermen indicated truck loads of herring were once caught in the seines. Now they may produce 23 - 34 kg (50 - 75 lbs) of herring per day during the peak of the run. Hickory shad Hickory shad are not harvested in any great numbers in the Northeast Cape Fear River. A few are caught in herring nets, but most are harvested by haul seines. Most fishermen believe hickory shad are river herring and are treated as such. This is probably one of the reasons why there are little or no reported landings of hickory shad from the Cape Fear River system. -62- Striped bass Striped bass are caught infrequently by shad fishermen. However, they are not allowed to keep stripers caught in nets in New Hanover County by regulation. A few are landed in other counties. Some are harvested in haul seines, but not in significant numbers. A limited amount of hook-and-line fishing for striped bass is pursued with moderate success. Large striped bass are reportedly taken each year in the Northeast Cape Fear River. During the 1976 run, one 12-year old female striped bass weighing approximately 20 kg (45 lbs) was taken by shad fishermen. Although no large individuals were observed during 1977, several smaller stripers (4-7 years old) were sampled from drift net catches. Sturgeon Sturgeon are not landed very often. They are caught primarily by shad fishermen and in haul seines. During February and March of 1976, two sturgeon were caught in shad nets. Both were in the 45.8 kg (100 lb) class. This suggests that a small spawning stock of sturgeon may exist in the river. Although no adult sturgeon were taken during 1977, shad fishermen did catch several small immature individuals in the lower portion of the Northeast Cape Fear River. Tagging During 1976, four striped bass and two Atlantic sturgeon were tagged, with no returns. They were released in the lower portion of the river and at Sanderson's seine. During spring, 1977, four striped bass were tagged in the lower portion of the river and at Sanderson's seine. One 4-year old striped bass tagged 1 March 1977 in lower Smith Creek, was recaptured 34 days later in Sanderson's seine, an,upstream movement of approximately 72 km. -63- Spawning Area Survey Samples with 0.5 m plankton nets were routinely taken at the stations shown in Figure 5. In addition, random samples were taken where spawning was expected to occur. Druing 1977, special effort was made upstream (Crooms' Bridge to Limestone Creek) to locate American shad spawning areas. American shad Very little evidence of spawning by American shad was discovered. In 1976, only the immediate area around Sanderson's seine was found to be a spawning area (Table 17). During 1977, eggs, larvae and running-ripe females were found from below Lillington Creek to above NC 53 (Figure 29). Spawning probably occurs above CroomsO Bridge. The presence of adults and juveniles up to Limestone Creek indicates this area is probably a spawning area although no eggs or larvae were found. Spawning was found to occur from the fourth week in March to the first week in May 1977 at water temperatures of 11-22 0C (Figure 30). River herring River herring spawning was found to occur from mid-March.to mid-may 1976, with peak spawning occuring at a water temperature of approximately 17 0C. During spring, 1977, spawning occurred during March-April and May, with peak spawning at a water temperature of 18 0C (Figure 31). Table 18 lists the evidence of spawning of river herring for the 1976-77 seasons. They were found to spawn from Crooms' Bridge to Long Creek And in the following tributaries: Long Creek, Turkey Creek, Prince George Creek, Island Creek, Harrison Creek, Merrick Creek, Pike Creek, and Burgaw Creek (Figure 32). Spawning activity was observed primarily in slough-swamp habitats adjacent to the main stream of the river. The current was probably too swift in the river itself to permit spawning. Striped bass Spawning of striped bass was found to occur from April to early May. Peak spawning both years was during April at water temperatures of approximately 190C in 1976 and 180C in 1977 (Figure 33). Table 19 lists the evidence of -64- TABLE 17.--Evidence of spawning of American shad, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. DATE LOCATION COMNENTS 3-18-76 River at Sanderson's seine 1 early stage egg captured 4-05-76 River at Sanderson's seine 1 running ripe female captured 4-20-76 River at Sanderson's seine 1 running ripe female captured 5-03-76 River at Sanderson's seine 1 running ripe female captured 3-22-77 River below Sanderson's seine 2 early stage and 1 late stage eggs captured 3-22-77 River at Sanderson's seine 1 prolarva captured 4-13-77 River above Lillington Creek 1 early stage egg captured 4-20-77 River above N C 53 1 running ripe female captured 4-22-77 River above Burgaw Creek 1 postlarva captured 4-27-77 River below Lillington Creek 1 late stage egg captured 5-04-77 River above Lillington Creek I early stage egg captured -65- Kenansville 24 1961 Ct Wallace 15 IS rooMS ITidle Z Holly Shelter Cr Ivrgaw 'll'ngtOn Cr *.,L,% Lanes Ferry et 0 a Oe Nes Cr C, Wilmington Probable 00 OC-e C. x\ 0 ON % Known Figure 29.--Spawning areas of American shad, 1976-1977. -66- .15 Eggs ..14 Larvae 23 .13 Tem perature ------- - 22 A 2 - 21 .11 . 20 10 9 10, .09 ------------ * 8 .08 17 c/e .0 7 16. 06 - C: '0 5 14 .04 1 3 03 12 .02 11 .0i 10 .00 0 March April may W E E K Figure 30.--Temperature and catch per effort of American shad eggs and larvae by week, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1977. -67- 6 - 1976 23 5 - tarvae 21 4 - Temperatmk -------- q C/6 3 - 17 2 5 13 0 Marc It April May We ek .8 Eggs 1977 24 .7 tarvae 22 Temperature -------- .6 20 3 C14 .4 16 t C .3 14 0 2 12 NI 0 0 March April May .We ek Figure 31.--Temperature and catch per effort of river herring eggs and larvae, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -68- TABLE 18.--Evidence of spawning of river herring, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977 DATE LOCATION COMMENTS 3-17-76 River at Turkey Creek 6 prolarvae captured 4-02-76 River below Croom's Bridge 1 early stage egg captured 4-08-76 River below Castle Hayne 3 running ripe female alewife captured 4-08-76 Turkey Creek 1 blueback herring postlarvae and 2 alewife postlarvae captured 4-08-76 Long Creek below 210 2 eggs and 15 prolarvae captured 4-13-76 Below Lane's Ferry Visually observed spawning 4-13-76 Pike Creek Visually observed spawning 4-14-76 Pike Creek 1 prolarva, 1 blueback postlarva. and spawning visually observed 4-21-76 River at Turkey Creek 1 alewife postlarva captured 4-23-76 Below Lane's Ferry 1 alewife postlarva. captured 4-23-76 Merrick Creek 3 blueback herring postlarvae captured 4-23-76 River at Harrison Creek 1 prolarva captured 4-23-76 Island Creek 1 prolarva captured 4-27-76 River above Pike Creek 3 prolarvae, 3 blueback postlarvae captured 4-27-76 River above Lillington Creek 6 prolarvae captured 4-29'76 Lower Long Creek 1 prolarva captured 4-29-76 Long Creek below 210 1 blueback postlarva captured 4-29-76 Prince George Creek 1 blueback postlarva captured 4-29-76 River above Castle Hayne 2 prolarvae captured 4-29-76 River below Harrison Creed 2 prolarvae, 3 IS11usback. postlarvae and 1 alewife postlarva. captured 4-29-76 Harrison Creek 4 prolarvae captured 5-11-76 Long Creek below 210 1 alewife postlarva. captured 5-20-76 River at Sanderson's Seine 1 prolarva captured 5-20-76 Below Crooms' Bridge 1 blueback postlarva, captured -69- TABLE 1B.-Continued DATE LOCATION COMMENTS 3-22-77 River-below Sanderson's 1 early stage and 1-late stage seine egg captured 3-22-77 River at Sanderson's 1 early stage egg captured seine 4-06-77 Long Creek below 210 4 running ripe female bluebacks captured 4-13-77 Pike Creek 1 running ripe female blueback captured 4-13-77 River above Lillington 36 early stage eggs captured Creek 4-13-77 River at Burgaw Creek 2 prolarvae captured 4-14-77 Lower Burgaw Creek 5 running ripe female bluebacks captured 4-15-77 Long Creek below 210 1 early stage egg captured 4-18-77 River at Sandersonis 1 running ripe female blueback seine captured 4-20-77 River above 53 4 running ripe female blueback captured 4-27-77 Lower Pike Creek 1 prolarva captured 4-27-77 Lower Burgaw Creek 1 blueback postlarva. captured 4-27-77 River below Lillington 2 early stage eggs captured Creek 4-27-77 River above Pike Creek 2 blueback postlarvae captured 5-04-77 Lower Merrick, Creek 3 prolarvae and 6 blueback postlarvae captured. -70- Kenansville 24 Cle 'allace J*r vidge J 0' 155 Holly Shelter Cr lvrgaw f 'Lilliflgton Cr lanes Ferry OPI. st Ick C, aylle 0 He ss Cr cp Wilmington 00 ocel@ 60% Spawning.area Figure 32.--Spawning areas of bl'ueback herring and alewife, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. .5 - -Eggs 1976 - 22 Larva* % - 21 .4 Temperature -------- - 20 tIt 19 .3 % %081 ", -18 17 C .2- 16 -1 14 13 0.6- 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 2 March April May Week .9 Eggs 1977 .11- Larvae 24 .7 - Temperature -------- 22 .6- 20 c/e -5 - ------- --------- Is V .4 - C .3 - 14 .2 - 12 10 0 0 March April May W e e It Figure 33,--Temperature and catch per effort of striped bass eggs and larvae,, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -72- TABLE 19.--Evidence of spawning of striped bass, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. DATE LOCATION. COMMENTS 4-2-76 Below Croams Bridge 4 early stage eggs captured 4-21-76 River above Ness Creek 1 postlarva captured 4-23-76 River at Harrison Creek 4 early stage eggs captured 4-29-76 River below Harrison Creek 9 prolarvae and I postlarva captured 5-12-76 River at Turkey Creek 1 early stage egg captured 5-12-76 River below Castle Rayne 2 early stage eggs captured 4-13-77 River below Harrison Creek 14 early stage and 4 late stage eggs captured 4-13-77 River below Lane's Ferry 4 early stage eggs and 1 prolarva captured 4-15-77 Lower Long Creek 9 early stage eggs and 1 late stage eggs captured 4-15-77 River above Turkey Creek 4 early stage and 1 late stage eggs captured 4-15-77 Lower Prince George Creek 3 early stage and 1 late stage eggs captured 4-15-77 River below Castle Rayne 3 early stage eggs captured 4-18-77 River at Sandersonts seine 1 running ripe female captured 4-27-77 River above Ness Creek 2 prolarvae captured 5-02-77 Lower Long Creek 1 prolarva captured -73@- striped bass spawning. They were found to spawn from Crooms' Bridge to Ness Creek (Figure 34). The greatest amount of spawning occurred below Lane's Ferry. This area is characterized by relatively high tidal currents which are necessary to keep striped bass eggs in suspension. Hickory shad During March and April 1977, two hickory shad eggs and one postlarva was captured from above Crooms' Bridge to above Burgaw Creek. Table 20 lists the evidence of spawning of hickory shad. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1. The nursery area for juvenile American shad was from SSR 1961 to the mouth of the river. The seaward migration occurred in September although some were found in the river until December. The C/e dropped drastically in 1976 compared to 1975. 2. The nursery area for juvenile blueback herring was from above Crooms' Bridge to the mouth of the river with the greatest concentrations in the tributaries. The seaward migration occurred during October and November. Juvenile bluebacks: were significantly more abundant in 1976 than in 1975. 3. The nursery area for juvenile alewife was from NC 53 to the mouth including the tributaries. They remained in the river unti 1 November and were slightly more abundant in 19 76 than in 1975. 4. Juvenile hickory shad were found during June of 1976 and 1977 from NC 53 to the mouth. 5. Juvenile striped bass were found infrequently from Lane's Ferry to the river mouth. 6. Five immature Atlantic sturgeon were found above Ness Creek indicating this to be a possible nursery area. 7. Significant runs of American shad, blueback herring, and alewife were found with lesser runs of hickory shad and striped bass. _74- Kenansville 24 ell er Wallace e, CTOOMS Holly Sbelter Cr largaw 110 top 'Lillington Cr &A -'J'tA Lan s Ferry Ok stle Cr a e 1017 moss Cr ell C' Wilmington e6 Spawning area C. Figure 34.--SpAwning areas of striped bass, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1976-1977. -75- TABLE 20.--Evidence of spawning of hickory shad, Northeast Cape Fear River, 1977. DATE LOCATION COHMENTS 3-23-77 River above Crooms Bridge 1 early stage egg captured 4-13-77 River above Lillington Creek 1-provarva captured 4-13-77 River above Burgaw Creek 1 early stage egg capture -76- 8. Haul seine samples produced American shad and blueback herring with fewer numbers of hickory shad, alewife, and striped bass. - 9. Haul seine samples indicated the male:female sex ratio of American shad to be 4.7:1 in 1976 and 5.0:1 in 1977, possibly indicating that commercial and recreational fishing pressure on females was excessive. 10. American shad ranged from three to eight years of age. Five American shad were found to have spawning marks, the southernmost confirmed evidence of rep eat spawning by American shad. All other American shad were virgins. The 1977 run is believed to have been greater than the 1976 run. 11. Blueback herring ranged from three to seven years in age, with only 16 percent showing evidence of prior spawning. The 1977 run was much greater than the 1976 run. 12. Alewife were from three to six years in age, with 91 percent being virgin. Adults were less abundant in 1977 than in 1976. 13. Hickory shad ranged from three to six years of age with 27 percent of the males repeating, and 23 percent of the females repeating. 14. Striped bass ranged from two to nine years of age. 15. Fishermen primarily harvested American shad with lesser amounts of river herring. Striped bass, hickory shad, and sturgeon were caught incidental to shad fishing. 16. The bulk of shad fishing was recreational, using drift gill nets and, to a lesser extent, anchored gill nets. 17, Five haul seines were operated during the 1916 and 1971 runs, 18. Gill net fishermen were fishing primarily for "roes". Unculled samples from'these fishermen indicated a male-female sex ratio of 1.1:1 in 1976 and 0.4:1 male-female in 1977. 19. The season was shorter in 1977 (March and April), more fishing effort was expended, and good daily catches were reported, compared to 1976. 20. Fishing for river herring was very limited. Gill nets were set to capture herring for personal consumption and to bait fish traps. Ther greatest harvest of herring was by haul seine, -77- 21. Three striped bass were tagged and none were returned in 1976. Of four striped bass tagged in 1977, one was returned from the haul seine 34 days later. 22. Two Atlantic sturgeon were tagged with no returns. 23. American shad were found to spawn from NC 53 to Lillington Creek during April. 24. River herring were found to spawn from Crooms' Bridge to Long Creek during March, April, and May. 25. Striped bass were found to spawn from Crooms' Bridge to Ness Creek from April through early May. -78- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was made possible by the efforts of many of the Division of Marine Fisheries personnel: Research and Development Chief Michael W. Street; Marine Biologist Walter F. Godwin; Fisheries Technicians Jerry A. Parker and Morris G. Allison; Lab Technician Elizabeth Olive; and Secretaries Elizabeth T. Wainwright and Sarah M. Baker. Special gratitude is extended to Mr. Henry L. Sanderson for his timely assistance and information during haul seine sampling. Finally, appreciation' is extended to all the commercial and recreational- fishermen of the Northeast Cape Fear River for their cooperation and valuable information. -79- LITERATURE CITED Baker, W. D. 1968. A reconnaisance of anadromous fish runs into the Inland Fishing Waters of North Carolina. Final Report of.Federal Aid in Fish Restoration, Project AFS-3. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 33p. Bayless, Jack D. 1963. Survey and classification of the Northeast Cape Fear River and Tributaries, North Carolina. Final Report for Project F-14-R, Job I-E. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 12p. and appendix. Beal, Kenneth Lee. 1968. Age and growth of the blueback herring (AZosa aestivaZis) (Mitchill). M. S. Thesis, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 82p. Cating, James E. 1953. Determining age of Atlantic shad from their scales. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery Bulletin 54(84): 187-199. Chambers, James Ross. 1969. Methods of distinguishing larval alewife from larval blueback herring. M.A. Thesis, College of William and Maryi Williamsburg, Virginia, 30p. Cobb, John N. 1906. Investigations relative to the shad fisheries of North Carolina. North Carolina Geological Survey, Economic Paper No. 12, 39p. Davis, James R. 1967. Sport fishing significance of anadromous shad runs. Final Report of Federal Aid in Fish Restoration, Project F-16-R. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 9p. and Randall P. Cheek. 1967. Distribution, food habits, and growth of young clupeids, Cape Fear River system, North Carolina. Pro- ceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commissioners, p. 250-260. Godwin, Walter F. and John G. Adams. 1969. Young clupeids of the Altamaha River, Georgia. Georgia Game and Fish Commission, Marine Fisheries Division, Contribution Series No. 15, 30p. assler, William W. and others. 1955-1976. Title varies. Mimeo reportsP Zoology Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh. -80- Holland, B. F., Jr. and George F. Yelverton. 1973. Distribution and biological studies of anadromous fishes offshore North Carolina. North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Division of Commercial and Sport Fisheries, Special Scientific Report No. 24, 132p. La Pointe, Donald F. 1958. Age and growth of the American shad, from three Atlantic coast rivers. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 87:139-150. Lippson, Alice J. and R. Lynn Moran. 1974. Manual for identification of early developmental stages of fishes of the Potamac River estuary. Power plant siting program of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 282p. Marcy, Barton C. 1969. Age determinations from scales of AZosa.pseudoharengus (Wilson), and AZosa aestivaUs (Mitchill) in Connecticut waters. M. S. Thesis, University of Connecticut, 26p. Marshall, Michael D. 1976. Anadromous fisheries research program - Tar River, Pamlico River, and Northern Pamlico Sound. Completion report for Project AFCS-10, North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Division of Marine Fisheries, 90p. Nichols, Paul R. and Darrell E Louder. 1970. Upstream passage of anadromous fish through navigation locks and use of the stream for spawning and nursery habitat Cape Fear River, North Carolina 1962-1966. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Circular 352, 12p. Pate, Preston P., Jr. 1972. Life history aspects of the hickory shad, Alosa mediocris (Mitchill), in the Neuse River, North Carolina. M. S. Thesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 67p. 1975. Anadromous fisheries research program - Tar River, Pamlico River, and Northern Pamlico Sound. Annual progress report for Project AFCS-10, North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Division of Marine Fisheries, 69p. Sholar, Terry M. 1975. Anadromous fisheries survey of the New and White Oak River systems. Final report for Project AFC-9, North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Division of Marine Fisheries, 49p. 81- Stevenson, Charles H. 1899. The shad fisheries of the Atlantic coast of the United States. U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Report for 1898, Part 24, p. 101-269. Street, Michael W. and John G. Adams. 1969. Aging of hickory shad and blueback herring in Georgia by the scale method. Georgia Game and Fish Commission, Marine Fisheries Division, Contribution Series No. 18, 13p. - and Preston P. Pate, Jr. 1975. Anadramous fisheries research program. Northern coastal region, Section I. Final report for Project AFCS-8. North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Division of Marine Fisheries, 173p. Walburg, Charles H. 19-117. Neuse River shad investigations, 1953. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report - Fisheries, No. 206, 13p. and P. R. Nichols. 1967. Biology and management of the Nei American shad and status of the fisheries, Atlantic Coast of the United States, 1960. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report Fisheries No. 550, 105p. i 11011111MIN @ 3 6668 14108 7769