In April 2022, 14 fish were implanted with trackers and tracked in the following months. Most implanted fish eventually went over Ela dam. 6,156 fish (1903 fry/larval, 149 large/y.o.y. per site) were stocked into the Oconaluftee. Evaluation of Ela dam- SFRH are likely not in the waters after passing over the dam, stocking isn't really working for us as a restoration method because animals seem to be moving over the dam and cannot return. Social & Cultural: Speaker consortium agreed upon the name U-Gi-Da-Tli/ ᎤᎩᏓᏟ , translated as “it wears a feather”. To introduce the importance of redhorse, we worked with the speakers consortium and Cherokee language learners on a fish fry where we captured black and golden redhorse. Myrtle Driver Johnson (beloved woman) led the cleaning and cooking of these fish for Cherokee language group and our staff. We are providing information in outreach forms about the damage dams can have to fish passage, for species like sicklefin.
Adaptive Decision for 2023
Management or Methodological Changes: Evaluation of eDNA for assessing restoration- look at data to determine how effective eDNA sampling was at detecting sicklefin redhorse. It seems very useful at as much as 2 kilometers. Because our results show Ela dam is a significant barrier to all age classes, we determined we should halt any introductions until the Ela dam is removed. Social & Cultural Changes: There are social changes associated with the dam removal that requires a geo-political and financial lobbying effort by EBCI and NCWRC leadership. Increase access to redhorse fish as a food source- restoring interest in redhorse as a cultural species. Partners: United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, Tangled Bank Conservation, LLC (TBC), Tennessee Valley Authority and Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Western Carolina University (WCU)
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