Susquehanna River Migratory Fish Agreement

Exelon Generation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently announced an agreement to restore Susquehanna River shad and river herring.

Exelon will improve fish passage facilities at Conowingo Dam and transport up to 100,000 American shad and 100,000 river herring annually to their spawning grounds above all four dams.

Currently, shad and river herring are returning to their spawning grounds on the Susquehanna River at their lowest numbers since the 1980s.

Hundreds of thousands of American shad and river herring passed Conowingo Dam in 2001, but that number dwindled to less than 15,000 shad each of the last two years and less than 1,000 herring each year since 2003.

The Susquehanna River Anadromous Fish Restoration Cooperative, which includes USFWS, seeks to restore 2 million shad and 5 million herring above all dams.

Unlike previous agreements, the latest agreement requires immediate restoration efforts, while requiring that efforts adapt over 50 years to support a growing fish population.

The agreement also reiterates American eel restoration efforts originally outlined in the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility license.

Eels will be trapped and transported upstream through at least 2030, after which a new structure will support passage.

source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service