Photo: Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Section 2. Schuylkill Resources That Need Protection or Enhancement
FISHERIES
The Schuylkill and its tributaries provide habitats for a diversity of warm
and coldwater fish. Two questions highlight important aspects of the watershed’s
fisheries. First, to what extent does the Schuylkill function as a free-flowing
natural river that enables the movement of American shad and other fish to
the habitats they need for their reproduction and survival? Second, how have
water quality conditions impacted the health of fish?
The American shad played an important part in United States history. For example, General Washington’s troops probably subsisted on salted shad during their winter in Valley Forge. But shad populations declined with dam construction in the early 19th century. Shad spend most of their lives in the ocean and migrate into fresh water to spawn. Because of its dams, the river no longer serves this critical function in the shad’s life cycle.
To restore shad to the Schuylkill, the Commonwealth expects to provide for their passage to the Reading area by Spring 2004 by constructing fish ladders and removing several dams on the river. The State released about 500,000 young shad in 1999 and again in 2000 to help restore the population. The Wilderness Club of Philadelphia has been actively supporting that program.
We can only indirectly address the question of fish health through fish consumption advisories. The presence of PCBs and chlordane, i.e., manufacturing chemicals linked to cancer, has resulted in DEP’s issuance of public advisories to limit consumption of fish for much of the River’s main stem.
Figure 15.
Fish Passage at Major Dams
Source: DEP, Bureau of Waterways Engineering, 2002
Figure 16.
Status of Fish Passage
Improvements at Major Dams
Source: DEP, Bureau of Waterways Engineering, 2002
Site Design: Tevlin & Clarke
