ALBANY – The State Department of Environmental Conservation has released the final Recovery Plan for Hudson River American Shad, an economically and ecologically important migratory fish species that once supported a robust fishery in the Hudson River.
Decades of intense fishing pressure coupled with years of low reproduction and non-fishing-related mortality events have further impacted the stock’s resilience and exacerbated declines.
The final recovery plan details a brief history of Hudson River American shad and actions taken by DEC and others to rebuild the stock since 2010. It outlines recovery goals and benchmarks based on decades of annual monitoring data and the most recent American shad stock assessment. With the aim of long-term stock resilience, the plan establishes management needs and the criteria required to re-open fisheries as we continue to gather data and identify challenges.
Since 2010, DEC, federal, and local partners have taken measures to address the Hudson River American shad stock including:
- development of Delaware Basin American Shad Sustainable Fishing plans in 2016 and 2022;
- initiation of a shad bycatch monitoring project with Cornell University; and
- reduction of shad mortality at Hudson River water intakes through plant closures and intake improvements.
