SARP: Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership

Selected spawning area before enhancement.

Natural flow distributed gravel in shallow area.

Introduction:

As part of a broader restoration effort, Georgia Wildlife Resources Division has been stocking robust redhorse (Moxostoma robustum), a species thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in Georgia’s Oconee River in the early 1990s.  This species did not occur naturally in the Ogeechee River, but study indicated that the aquatic habitat there would probably support the robust redhorse.  Stocking has been so successful that biologists decided to enhance spawning habitats for the species in the Ogeechee. The species spawns only over clean gravel substrates at depths ranging from 1.0 to 3.4 feet in preferred velocities ranging from 0.8 to 2.2 feet per second. The hydrologic and channel substrate characteristics in the vicinity of Rocky Ford suggest that suitable spawning habitat could be enhanced by placing gravel in that area.  

Description of Site:

• About 1,000 cubic feet of river bottom near Rocky Ford, GA, on the Ogeechee River.

Problem:

• No known suitable spawning sites for robust redhorse remain in the Ogeechee River, however the stocking effort has resulted in a large population.

• Reliable spawning areas are needed to sustain this population. 

Strategy:

• Distribute a maximum of 20 cubic yards of gravel by hand and utilizing hydrological processes.  

Project is ongoing. Results are not yet available. Monitoring to detect use of new  spawning area begins in May 2009.