Two local anglers weigh in why restoration efforts are making a difference.

A shad is posed with fly rod before being released back into the river. Photo Credit: canva

The Potomac River has seen a big improvement in water quality thanks to numerous cleanup efforts. In fact, Potomac Conservancy assessed over 20 ecosystem health indicators and graded the river a “B” in 2023. Back in 2010, the Potomac River scored an abysmal “D.”

As the Potomac River’s health improves, so does the population of American Shad, a migratory fish that returns from the Atlantic Ocean to the Potomac each spring to spawn. Their rebound in local waters is unmatched by other major rivers in the Chesapeake Bay region.

The American Shad has great historical significance. Author John McPhee has tagged it as “The Founding Fish.” The shad dates back to pre-colonization. During the Revolutionary War, shad may have fed George Washington’s Continental Army at Valley Forge after a harsh winter in 1778. If it wasn’t for the spawning shad, his troops may have been defeated.

Unfortunately, by the 1970s, water pollution, and dams prevented the shad from reaching its spawning grounds, and numbers declined. It wasn’t until 1995 that the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICBRB) led the American Shad restocking project. In 2002, shad populations recovered, and a major egg source for Maryland’s streams was restored with the fish.

As the shad continues its comeback, we asked two local anglers for their take on its remarkable comeback. Read below for our interview with Bill Eichbaum, Vice President of Marine and Arctic Policy for the World Wildlife Fund, and Kenny Mendez, President and Chief Executive Officer at The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and avid angler.

Potomac Conservancy (PC): The health of the river has clearly improved. However, fishing and swimming are still not allowed in and around Washington, D.C. What does this mean for anglers and recreationists?

American shad caught at chain bridge on the Potomac river. photo credit: canva

Bill Eichbaum: Fishing and swimming are allowed in virtually all of the Potomac other than certain stretches within the DC metropolitan area. Even there, improvements in water quality are such that fishing is welcomed, although with caution about consumption and restrictions on keeping several species of fish for conservation purposes.

PC: But rains in early July of 2023 caused issues with swimming in the Anacostia River.

Bill: This example illustrates that runoff in urban areas remains a serious problem for water quality in the river and its tributaries. The large numbers of people recreating on the river in the district are a tribute to its increasing appeal. And beyond the district's environs, it remains an inviting place to swim.

PC: How does land conservation affect the health of the fish?

Kenny Mendez: It’s runoff to the extent that you have land conservation, and you can be thoughtful about polluted runoff from that land, either from fertilizer or nonpoint source pollution. Degradation of the habitat, such as banks being denuded, changes the way the stream flows, which impacts fish.

PC: How have restoration efforts here help shad overall?

Kenny: The Clean Water Act of 1972 helped to clean up the Potomac River. Along with that, the removal of dams helped the shad get further upstream to spawn and swim freely. Catch and release also allowed the shad to propagate and rejuvenate the population.

Bill: Shad are great fun to catch but should always be returned to the river.

PC: What other fish are important to the Potomac River?

Kenny: There’s actually a cycle that comes up the river. Striped bass and herring are really important. The striped bass follow the herring, coming up the Potomac River to spawn in the Chesapeake Bay. Then, like the shad, they go out into the open ocean and migrate up the coast, following the herring and big fish during the summer. They return south in the fall and winter. The Potomac River acts as fertile ground for these fisheries.

The health of the Potomac's living resources is dependent on excellent water quality, strong elements of the natural environment, and the vitality of the entire web of life of the river. This means that organisms ranging from aquatic grasses to game fish, such as bass, all need to thrive to maintain the overall health and productivity of the river.