As part of a broad effort to restore threatened and endangered species in
the Tennessee River system, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning
to reintroduce two native fishes the threatened
spotfin chub and endangered
boulder darter into Shoal Creek (a tributary to the Tennessee River),
which flows through Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Lawrence County,
Tennessee.
The reintroduced fishes will be designated as nonessential experimental
populations, under the Endangered Species Act. This classification
precludes anyone who accidentally kills or harms the fish from being in
violation of the law, provided that the take occurs as part of an otherwise
lawful activity. Similarly, federal or federally funded projects would not
be required to be altered or stopped to protect these fish.
By reintroducing experimental populations of these species into their
historical habitat, and promoting other recovery efforts, we hope to
improve the species? status to the point where they no longer need
Endangered Species Act protection, said Sam D. Hamilton, the Service's
Southeast Regional Director.
These proposed reintroductions are part of a major effort by multiple
partners including federal and state agencies, conservation groups, and
private landowners to restore and recover native species in the Tennessee
River system.
Conservation Fisheries, Inc., a nonprofit fish conservation organization
based in Knoxville, Tennessee, has been working on several efforts in the
Tennessee River system including:
reintroducing the spotfin chub and three other species into Abrams Creek in
Blount County; augmenting boulder darter populations in the Elk River; and,
reintroducing the spotfin chub and three other federally-listed species
into the Tellico River. The nonessential experimental population
designation for Shoal Creek is the next step in recovery efforts of the
boulder darter and spotfin chub, said Gary Myers, Executive Director
of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Coupled with habitat
improvements and advances in fish propagation technology, this nonessential
experimental population designation will allow efforts to re-establish
viable populations of boulder darters and spotfin chubs into Shoal Creek.
This designation will certainly assist our recovery efforts for these rare
fish.
Support for Conservation Fisheries, Inc.'s reintroduction efforts has come
from the Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the National Park
Service, U.S. Forest Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, The Alabama
Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, and the Tennessee Aquarium.
The reintroduction effort in Shoal Creek, an extension of these other
recovery projects, was developed at the request of the Commissioner of the
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Executive
Director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The spotfin chub was once found throughout the middle and upper reaches of
the Tennessee River system, but now occurs in only a few Tennessee River
tributaries. This small fish grows to three and a half inches, has a life
span of less than four years, and inhabits moderate-to-large streams with
pools and stretches of choppy water.
Although boulder darters were once thought to exist only in the Elk River
system and Shoal Creek, scientists believe they also inhabited shoals in
the Tennessee River and its larger tributaries in Tennessee and Alabama
from the Paint Rock River in Madison County, Alabama, downstream to at
least Shoal Creek in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Today, the fish no longer
survives in Shoal Creek and exists only in the Elk River system in Giles
and Lincoln Counties, Tennessee, and Limestone County, Alabama. This fish,
generally less than 3 inches long, lives in relatively shallow, swift water
and is generally associated with boulder and large rock habitat.
Both species were last collected from Shoal Creek in the 1880s but were
apparently unable to survive there later, due to pollution of the water and
construction of Wilson Dam. However, as the result of the Clean Water Act
as well as pollution control measures undertaken by State water and natural
resources agencies, municipalities, industries, and individuals the creek's
water quality has greatly improved and its fish have benefited.
Nonessential experimental population status is a special category under the
Endangered Species Act. It allows for reintroduction and protection with
less stringent requirements JR than for species not in this category.
For example, for nonessential experimental populations, the Act requires
that a federal agency outside a National Wildlife Refuge or National Park
confer with the Service on actions the agency finds likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of the reintroduced species. But the agency is not
required by the Act to halt or change an action although it would be
required to do so for a federally threatened or endangered species that is
not a nonessential experimental population. The Service, therefore, does
not expect the reintroductions to have an impact on these agencies or their
activities.
These less stringent rules ensure that in the event of any accidental and
incidental killing or injuring of these reintroduced fish provided that the
take occurs as part of an otherwise lawful activity there would be no
violation of the Act. For instance, if a person inadvertently kills a
reintroduced species while engaged in an otherwise lawful activity such as
boating, fishing, or wading, then no violation is considered to have been
committed.
Because of the significant regulatory relief provided through this
nonessential experimental population designation, we do not believe that
these reintroductions will hinder public use of Shoal Creek or its
watershed,? Hamilton said.
Questions regarding these reintroductions should be addressed to Timothy
Merritt at the Tennessee Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 446
Neal Street, Cookeville, Tennessee 38501, telephone 931/528-6481, Ext. 211,
fax 931/528-7075
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