Homeward Bound: 



euse, 

 awmp 

 rounds 

 eopened 



By Cynthia Henderson 

 Photos by Herman Lankford 



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'hen summer intruded early into spring this 

 year — bringing 90-degree temperatures to the 

 same day that, a year ago, had seen snow flurries in 

 parts of central Carolina — the striped bass and 

 American shad seemed not to have been surprised. 



Catches of these species on the Neuse River 

 near Goldsboro peaked the week before the heat 

 wave, according to Christian Waters, fisheries 

 biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commis- 

 sion (WRC). 



Early each spring, American shad and striped 

 bass seek freshwater rivers and streams in which to 

 spawn, preferring temperatures at or below 75 

 degrees. The ones that make it to the Goldsboro 

 stretch of the Neuse can be shocked to find Waters 

 and WRC assistant biologist Jason Farmer waiting 

 for them. 



Literally shocked. Waters and Farmer use 

 electrofishing techniques to catch, study and release 

 American shad and striped bass on the Neuse. 



The scientific interest generated by the return 

 of American shad and striped bass implies that this 

 is more than a routine annual event. Rather, this 

 springtime migration signifies the reopening of 

 habitat that was, for many years, nearly lost to such 

 anadromous fishes — those that spend most of 

 their lives in the ocean and return to freshwater 

 rivers or streams to spawn. 



Continued 



Christian Waters weighs the catch as Jason 

 Farmer records data for the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission. 



COASTWATCH 13 



