Gunpowder Shad

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Gunpowder River

My mother and my two sons went on a hike along the Gunpowder River off Route 1 this past Sunday 5/4/14. The water was still raging from the last rain. I was able to show my boys that even on the path the water mark on the trees was over our head! We made it down river to the boulders and saw hundreds of these fish attempting to make it up the falls. It was really cool to show my 5 and 6 year old sons this event. I was able to pick one up with my hands and get this picture before returning it to the water. Of course, my son's thought this was the neatest thing so they wanted to try. They were determined and ended up catching a few. My mother caught the one on the second picture. As you can see in the background the water was raging. A lot of the fish had bad cuts and bruised sides from there failed attempts to make it up the falls and tumbling back down the rocky edge.

DNR, 1) what type of fish is this? I have heard herring and shad but I can not make them out. 2) Will these fish make it or is their run a set time making the liklyhood of their success limited given the pounding water? 3) What was the sewage spill sign at the start of the trail? I noticed it but of course forgot about it when I saw the fish. We all took good baths but could not find anything on the website off the sign.

DNR Response: The fish is a Gizzard Shad. Loch Raven Reservoir has Gizzard Shad and they are also present in most of the tidal Gunpowder. I am not sure they could run upstream of Rt. 7 from the tidal river since there are some pretty serious rapids there so I suspect they may have washed out of Loch Raven from upstream. Gizzard Shad are somewhat fragile and if they are cut and bruised I would not think they will live too long. Also we gave not heard anything about a spill this year. Last year there was a sewage spill up near Harford Rd.