The Delaware River Shad Fishermen's Association is a sportsmen's/environmental organization based in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, whose members are dedicated to preserving and enhancing the American shad population in the Delaware River and its tributaries. Founded in 1974 by a group of 11 men who opposed the construction of Tocks Island Dam on the upper Delaware, the DRSFA now boasts a membership of more than 1,600 men and women who are working to keep the river free of impoundments and pollution. Striving for those goals inherently will keep the shad population on the rise; all shad need are free access to a clean river to thrive.
A milestone in the DRSFA's efforts to reintroduce shad to former habitats was achieved in 1990 when Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey authorized $1.3 million in state funds to construct two fish passageways on the Lehigh River at its confluence with the Delaware in Easton, and four miles upstream at the hamlet of Glendon. Gov. Casey's approval ended eight years of lobbying by the DRSFA that began during the administration of Richard Thornburgh.
The club invested more than $8,000 in economic studies and public relations projects and attended more than 30 city, borough and township meetings to convince local politicians that bringing shad back to the Lehigh would be not only an honorable act, but a fiscally wise move as well. A study funded by the DRSFA in 1986 in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicated that a Lehigh River shad run would pump $2.1 million into the Lehigh Valley economy each year.
The DRSFA conducted several letter and telephone campaigns during the eight years, but perhaps the most eye-opening part of the DRSFA's PR plan occurred late in 1989 when Gov. Casey was presented with petitions in support of the passageways that included 40,000 signatures of sportsmen from across Pennsylvania. Several months later Gov. Casey was in Easton with an entourage of DER and Fish and Boat Commission officials and a facsimile check for $1.3 million.
Construction of the passageways began in December of 1992. The ladder at Glendon was completed in time for the '93 shad migration, but unfortunately Mother Nature put a halt to construction of the Easton facility by dumping more than five inches of rain in April and putting the Lehigh and Delaware in near-flood stage. The construction company in charge of the project lost a lot of equipment and was unable to work as the shad were moving up river. Work resumed in May and the project will be completed this summer. The ladders will be operable in 1994.
The shad that climb the series of one-foot steps at Easton and Glendon will have approximately 35 miles of Lehigh River available to them for spawning. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been stocking a half-million shad fry in the Lehigh the past six years in order to establish a run of fish that will home in on this new habitat. The Lehigh shad population will build slowly and probably not reach its estimated peak of 100,000 adult fish for perhaps 10 or more years.
Anglers will have the opportunity to fish from Easton to the foothills of the Pocono Mountains. No one knows how far up river the shad will travel. That may be determined by the pH of the river north of Palmerton, where mine acid drainage that enters the Lehigh in several tributaries may affect the shad's progress.
Other fish species will benefit from the ladders as well. A fish passageway already in place on the Lehigh at the Hamilton Street dam in Allentown has passed trout, muskellunge, white suckers and smallmouth bass. The same is expected at the Easton and Glendon facilities. An added bonus is that the public will be able to watch the fish climb the Easton ladder by means of a viewing window.
The upshot of the DRSFA's effort is twofold:
By working closely with local representatives to gain approval of the fish passageway bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature, and then getting strong public support for the bill, the DRSFA proved that abiding by the political process is the proper way to attain lofty goals. It's a lesson for all sportsmen to remember.
Dennis Scholl is a resident of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, and President of the Delaware River Shad Fishermen's Association since 1978. Information on the DRSFA can be obtained by writing to: DRSFA, 501 Magnolia Rd., Hellertown, PA 18055.
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