Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for April–June 2026
Spring and Summer 2026 Updates from the Foothills Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Region
by Michael Perkins, Foothills Aquatic Wildlife Diversity Coordinator
S pring and early Summer are the busiest seasons for Foothills AWD Region. Temperatures warm, fish become more active for the breed- ing season, and staff can more easily get their faces in the water for surveys. The bulk of April was made up of 20 long-term fish monitoring sites in the Broad River drainage, primarily in Polk, Rutherford, and Cleveland counties. The primary focus of these surveys is to monitor Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) including the state- listed Thicklip Chub, Santee Chub, Seagreen Darter, and Broad River Spiny Crayfish. Overall, many sites were in excellent condition with diverse fish communities, including some sites affected by Hurricane Helene damage or debris removal activities, like Green River, White Oak Creek, and Hinton Creek. However, at other sites, staff collected new records of introduced, non-native species, like Bluntnose Minnows and Inland Silversides in the Rocky Broad River near Lake Lure. In May, staff wrapped up Broad River drainage fish monitoring and switched focus to mussel surveys in the Dan River drainage for brood- stock collections of the federally threatened Atlantic Pigtoe and feder- ally endangered James Spinymussel. These rare mussel species are found in only a few streams in North Carolina. Staff successfully located gravid individuals of both species over a few sampling trips and long days in Stokes and Caswell counties. Both species are being propagated by NC State University at the Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Center (YMACC). Following up on the first quarterly report of 2026, the Brook Floater propagation with YMACC was successful and they have approximately 10,000 juvenile mussels ready for grow out over the next year. In June, staff worked with the Western AWD biologists to survey large riverine fish via boat electro-shocking in the Catawba River in McDowell and Catawba counties. These are sites that have not been sampled in the last several years and staff were excited to revisit them. Staff focused on collecting SGCN suckers including redhorse, quill- back, and carpsucker species. Staff collected over one hundred red- horse and new “official” records of other species like Longnose Gar in the Catawba River. Next year, staff will focus efforts on the target fish species during their most active period in late Spring when they aggre- gate around shoals to breed.
NCWRC STAFF
NCWRC STAFF
Above: FAWD Biologist Chantelle Rondel and technician Maddie Roark on the “Mountain River Cruiser” in the Catawba River, McDowell County; FAWD and Eastern AWD biologists processing mussels in Country Line Creek, Caswell County; A dozen non- game fish species, including state-protected Seagreen Darters and Thicklip Chub, from a single seine haul in Hinton Creek, Cleveland County; Larval glochidia from a federally-endangered James spinymussel collected from the Dan River, Stokes County. CHRIS EADS/NC STATE UNIVERSITY NCWRC STAFF
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