234 
Fishery Bulletin 112(2-3) 
Striped Bass, is now a multimillion-dollar recreational 
fishery best known for Striped Bass and Hickory Shad 
(McCargo et al. 7 ). Habitat loss and fragmentation, 
along with overharvesting the species, are considered 
major factors in the reduction of alosine stocks to rem- 
nant populations in this watershed (Walsh et ah, 2005; 
McCargo et al. 7 ) and elsewhere in the North Atlan- 
tic (Limburg and Waldman, 2009). Restoration of the 
American Shad population in the Roanoke River has 
been ongoing since 1988 (Waters 24 ), but adult abun- 
dance remains low despite the stocking of 43 million 
American Shad fry in the Roanoke River as of 2010 
(Dockendorf 10 ). 
Populations of Hickory Shad in upper Chesapeake 
Bay tributaries are experiencing resurgence and are 
supporting an active catch-and-release recreational 
fishery. This resurgence also means better access to 
brood fish for hatchery programs, and the state of 
Maryland now has implemented stock restoration ef- 
forts for Hickory Shad in 3 rivers: the Patuxent, 
Choptank, and Nanticoke (Richardson et al. 23 ). Mary- 
land agencies hope to establish increased fishing op- 
portunities for targeting Hickory Shad, believing that 
restoration of this species has the potential to occur 
over a shorter time frame (because of its earlier age at 
maturity) than the period needed for American Shad 
restoration (Richardson et al. 23 ). 
Conclusions 
Our findings clearly indicate that the short lifes- 
pan of the Hickory Shad, combined with an early 
age to maturity and an anadromous migration pat- 
tern, means that adult individuals of the population 
will be subjected to recreational and commercial har- 
vest in inland waters for 1 or 2 seasons before they 
are removed by exploitation or natural mortality. Our 
data were collected before the implementation of the 
10-fish bag limit on shads. North Carolina fisheries 
agencies hope that a daily 10-fish limit for shads (only 
1 fish can be American Shad in the Roanoke River) 
will protect current population size while maintain- 
ing the interest of fishermen in this lucrative fishery. 
The study presented here is the most recent on this 
species for North Carolina; data collected during creel 
surveys by the NCWRC have included only recorded 
catches but not samples for lengths, weights, or age. 
We recommend that new data be collected on age and 
growth since this regulation went into effect to deter- 
mine whether incidences of repeat spawning events 
have increased in this population. This growing popu- 
lation has a sex ratio slightly dominated by females 
both in the prespawning staging area in Albemarle 
24 Waters, C. T. 2000. Summary of activities in 1998 and 
1999 for restoring American Shad to Roanoke River. [Avail- 
able from North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 
1751 Varsity Dr., Raleigh, NC 27606.] 
Sound in January and on the spawning grounds in the 
Roanoke River. Continued research on the poorly un- 
derstood life history of this species will increase our 
understanding and, perhaps, provide insight on its 
success in relative abundance compared with that of 
American Shad. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank the staff of the North Carolina Division of 
Marine Fisheries, especially H. Johnson, S. Trowell, S. 
Winslow, and field technicians of the Elizabeth City of- 
fice for their assistance in fish collections; the National 
Marine Fisheries Service (Beaufort Laboratory, South- 
east Fisheries Science Center) sampling crew headed 
by D. Peters; and the staff of the Roanoke River Na- 
tional Wildlife Refuge led by J. Holloman. P. Kornegay 
of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 
provided the 1996 Hickory Shad recreational harvest 
data for the Roanoke River. C. Manooch III, and J. 
Potts of the Beaufort Laboratory assisted with otolith 
preparation and reading. We thank K. Dockendorf, W. 
Patrick, J. Murauskas, A. Dell’Apa, C. Bangley, and the 
anonymous referees for critical review of the manu- 
script. Funding was provided, in part, by the North 
Carolina Fishery Resource Grant program (through the 
NC Marine Fisheries Commission), Project No. M-6057, 
to R. Rulifson. 
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