Target Fish Communities and the MA Water Policy Todd Richards MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Todd.Richards@state.ma.us
MA Water Policy (2004) Principle: Protect Fish and Wildlife Habitat Recommendation: Conduct Target Fish Community Assessments EEA Funded 2 Employees to Work with F&W
Developing a Target Fish Community Goal: Define the fish community that is appropriate for a natural river in southern New England (Bain and Meixler, 2000) Assumption: Biological Integrity should be Maintained and is defined by a balanced, integrated, adaptive community (Karr, 1991) Rivers Should Have River Fish Communities
Fish Community Assessment The Fish Tell the Story Long-Lived Reflect Stresses Over Time Easily Recognized and Identified
Rivers Should Have River Fish Communities What is a River Fish? Fluvial Specialists- FS-(Require Flowing Water - brook trout)
Rivers Should Have River Fish Communities What is a River Fish? Fluvial Dependents-FD- (Need Flowing Water at Some time in Their Life Cycle - white sucker)
Rivers Should Have River Fish Communities What is a River Fish? Macrohabitat Generalists-MG-(Don t Require Flowing Water - largemouth bass)
Completed Target Fish Communities Ipswich USFWS and IRWA, 2001 MG 29% FD 20% Charles CRWA and Cornell, 2006 FS 51% MG 25% FD 25% FS 50% 12% 18% MG 25% FD 25% 70% Housatonic MA Riverways 2004 FS 50% Quinebaug Cornell, 2000
Reference Rivers Determine Potential Reference Rivers Based on Physical Characteristics Collect Existing Fisheries and Status Info Describe Reference River Fish Communities There are no true references
Data Contributions and Reference Consultation CT DEP Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection- Fisheries MA DFW Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife NEIHP Northeast Instream Habitat Program NH DES New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services NYSDEC New York State Department of Environmental Conservation RI DEM Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division of Fish and Wildlife USGS U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) VT DEC Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation WPWA Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association
Concord River Summary River Characteristics Drainage Area: 400 sq miles Stream Order: 5 th Mainstem Length: 131.2 km Elevation: 0-800 ft Gradient: 0-0.5% EPA Level III Ecoregion: 59 River Basin Map Target Fish Community Bridle Shiner 3% Brook Trout 3% Tesselated Darter 4% American Eel 4% Redbreast Sunfish 6% White Sucker 9% Other 14% Other Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Fallfish 37% Common Shiner 19% Other: Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin Pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Species grouped by Habitat Use Categories (HUC) 48% Fluvial Specialists 27% Fluvial Dependents 25% Macrohabitat Generalists Reference Rivers River State Drainage area (mi²) Stream order Calcareous geology Grad. class Elv. class Level III Ecoregion Lamprey River NH 135 4 Acidic 1 1 59 North River NH 131 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Pawcatuck River RI 275 5 Acidic 1 1 59 Piscataquog River NH 216 5 Acidic 1 1 58 Willimantic River CT 124 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Gradient class:1 = 0-0.5% Elevation class:1 = 0-800 ft Figure 5a. Concord River summary
Concord River Summary River Characteristics Drainage Area: 400 sq miles Stream Order: 5 th Mainstem Length: 131.2 km Elevation: 0-800 ft Gradient: 0-0.5% EPA Level III Ecoregion: 59 River Basin Map Target Fish Community Bridle Shiner 3% Brook Trout 3% Tesselated Darter 4% American Eel 4% Redbreast Sunfish 6% White Sucker 9% Other 14% Other Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Fallfish 37% Common Shiner 19% Other: Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin Pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Species grouped by Habitat Use Categories (HUC) 48% Fluvial Specialists 27% Fluvial Dependents 25% Macrohabitat Generalists Reference Rivers River State Drainage area (mi²) Stream order Calcareous geology Grad. class Elv. class Level III Ecoregion Lamprey River NH 135 4 Acidic 1 1 59 North River NH 131 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Pawcatuck River RI 275 5 Acidic 1 1 59 Piscataquog River NH 216 5 Acidic 1 1 58 Willimantic River CT 124 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Gradient class:1 = 0-0.5% Elevation class:1 = 0-800 ft Figure 5a. Concord River summary
Concord River Summary River Characteristics Drainage Area: 400 sq miles Stream Order: 5 th Mainstem Length: 131.2 km Elevation: 0-800 ft Gradient: 0-0.5% EPA Level III Ecoregion: 59 River Basin Map Target Fish Community Bridle Shiner 3% Brook Trout 3% Tesselated Darter 4% American Eel 4% Redbreast Sunfish 6% White Sucker 9% Other 14% Other Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Fallfish 37% Common Shiner 19% Other: Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin Pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Species grouped by Habitat Use Categories (HUC) 48% Fluvial Specialists 27% Fluvial Dependents 25% Macrohabitat Generalists Reference Rivers River State Drainage area (mi²) Stream order Calcareous geology Grad. class Elv. class Level III Ecoregion Lamprey River NH 135 4 Acidic 1 1 59 North River NH 131 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Pawcatuck River RI 275 5 Acidic 1 1 59 Piscataquog River NH 216 5 Acidic 1 1 58 Willimantic River CT 124 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Gradient class:1 = 0-0.5% Elevation class:1 = 0-800 ft Figure 5a. Concord River summary
Concord River Summary River Characteristics Drainage Area: 400 sq miles Stream Order: 5 th Mainstem Length: 131.2 km Elevation: 0-800 ft Gradient: 0-0.5% EPA Level III Ecoregion: 59 River Basin Map Target Fish Community Bridle Shiner 3% Brook Trout 3% Tesselated Darter 4% American Eel 4% Redbreast Sunfish 6% White Sucker 9% Other 14% Other Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Fallfish 37% Common Shiner 19% Other: Yellow Perch 3% Pumpkinseed 2% Chain Pickerel 2% Brown Bullhead 2% Redfin Pickerel 2% Golden Shiner 2% Creek Chubsucker 1% Species grouped by Habitat Use Categories (HUC) 48% Fluvial Specialists 27% Fluvial Dependents 25% Macrohabitat Generalists Reference Rivers River State Drainage area (mi²) Stream order Calcareous geology Grad. class Elv. class Level III Ecoregion Lamprey River NH 135 4 Acidic 1 1 59 North River NH 131 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Pawcatuck River RI 275 5 Acidic 1 1 59 Piscataquog River NH 216 5 Acidic 1 1 58 Willimantic River CT 124 4 Acidic 1 1 59 Gradient class:1 = 0-0.5% Elevation class:1 = 0-800 ft Figure 5a. Concord River summary
Identifying the Current Status: Concord River Similarity Index Fish species Fallfish Common shiner White sucker Redbreast sunfish American eel Tesselated darter Brook trout Bridle shiner Yellow perch Pumpkinseed Chain pickerel Brown bullhead Redfin pickerel Golden shiner Creek chubsucker Largemouth bass* Yellow bullhead* Bluegill* Brown trout* Rock bass* Rainbow trout* Blacknose dace Banded sunfish TFC Percentage 37.3 18.7 9.3 6.2 4.1 3.7 3.4 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.3 2.1 2 1.6 1.4 - - - - - - - - Current Community Percentage 0 22.6 4.7 4.7 0 0 0 1.1 7 1.6 1 18.5 6.8 1 9.5 6.3 3 1.1 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 Absolute Difference 27.9 Total 123.6 Percent Similarity (Novak and Bode) 38.2 9.4 18.7 13.3 1.5 0.6 3.7 3.4 2.9 1.6 4.5 0.7 1.1 16.5 5.2 0.4 9.5 6.3 3 1.1 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1
Statewide Species Similarity Westfield 76 Hoosic 68 Quinebaug 62 Nashua 50 Housatonic Farmington Concord 39 38 44 Wide Range of Watershed Conditions BM Other Shawsheen Charles 28 32 EBT TD AE RBS F Ipswich 23 WS Blackstone 22 CS 0 25 50 75 100 Percent Model Affinity (Species)
Species Scarcity Scarce or absent species indicate ecological conditions severely lacking; Examine 5 species predicted to be most abundant by TFC; Species considered scarce if the existing fish community percentage was 10% or less than that predicted by the TFC.
Scarcity Example Table 36. Blackstone River species percentages for target fish community model and current community composition. Absolute difference values between model expected and current community percentages were used to calculate percent model affinity. Fish species TFC Percentage Current Community Percentage Percent Fallfish 31.8 1.3 4 Common shiner 15.9 1.1 7 White sucker 10.6 49.8 470 Longnose dace 8.0 0.3 4 American eel 5.3 - - 4 Scarce Species
Mainstem River Condition Westfield Farmington Hoosic Housatonic Nashua Quinebaug Blackstone Charles Concord Ipswich Shawsheen
Prioritizing Restoration: Westfield River (Green) River Species Proportions FD 19% MG 12% TFC FD 18% MG 11% Current Water Quantity and Physical Habitat FS 69% Measure of Pollution Tolerance FS 71% Percent 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percent 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 46 43 45 46 TFC Current 12 8 I M T Tolerance I M T Tolerance TFC Current Water Quality
Prioritizing Restoration: Nashua River (Yellow) River Species Proportions TFC Current MG MG 23% FS FS 30% 32% 36% Water Quantity and Physical Habitat FD 41% FD 38% Measure of Pollution - Tolerance Nashua River Percent 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 I M T TFC Current Water Quality Pollution Tolerance
Prioritizing Restoration: Ipswich River (Red) River Species Proportions MG 28% TFC FS 26% Current FD 2% FS 2% Water Quantity and Physical Habitat FD 46% MG 96% Measure of Pollution Tolerance Percent 80 70 60 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 7 76 66 31 16 2 I M T Tolerance TFC Current TFC Current Water Quality 0 I M T Tolerance
Prioritizing Restoration: Concord River (Red) River Species Proportions MG 25% TFC FS 48% Current FS 12% FD 23% Water Quantity and Physical Habitat FD 27% MG 65% - Measure of Pollution Tolerance Concord River Percent 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percent 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Concord River 75.4 52.9 44.6 TFC Current 17.1 7.7 2.5 I M T Tolerance I M T Tolerance TFC Current Water Quality
Summary Completion of 19 Target Fish Community Models Comparison of 11 Current Fish Communities to Corresponding Targets Generalize Water Quality/Quantity issues Provide a Product that can be Incorporated into Water Policy and Water Quality Standards Applications