Operational Plan for the Restoration of Diadromous Fishes to the ...

depressed populations (ASFMC 2007a; Hendricks 2003). There has been little
comprehensive evaluation of the hatchery programs with marked fish except for the
well-funded programs, such as the Susquehanna River, however the general
consensus is that these programs are beneficial and are a useful tool as part of a
comprehensive restoration program (Hendricks 2003).
The recent ASMFC planning process also recognizes that fish transfers may be
necessary to reestablish populations that have been extirpated from their habitat due
to dams or other factors (ASMFS 2008a, ASMFS 2007a). One of the plan’s
management recommendations is an alosine stocking program, including
reintroduction to the historic spawning areas, expansion of existing stock restoration
programs, and initiation of new strategies to enhance depressed stocks. Limburg et
al. (2007) peer reviewed the ASFMC American shad stock assessment (ASFMS
2007a) did not raise fish transfers or hatchery supplementation as an issue,
negatively or positively, even though these methods were identified as a significant
component of restoration by many states. The use of exogenous fish transfers for
shad is a well accepted method of restoration by ASMFS and the member states,
and the risk of these methods has not been indentified as a significant issue in the
planning documents.
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