Abstract:
Ocean-dwelling American shad have for centuries returned to historic spawning grounds on middle Cape Fear River. However, for the last one hundred years, dams built by the US Army Corps of Engineers on the river from Wilmington to Fayetteville have blocked them. The Cape River Partnership, a coalition of twenty-three state and federal agencies, municipalities, and conservation groups has seen this year the realization this year of some their advocacies. Dam No. 1 now has its own rock arch rapids fishway past the dam, and at Dam No. 2 there is a newly placed spawning habitat of underwater gravel beds. The Partnership hopes that over the next few years Dams 1 and 2 will have their own fishways.