Occurrence of American Shad Eggs in 1G Cooling-Water Canal

摘要

American shad eggs are only semi-bouyant and require river turbulence to remain suspended in the water column long enough (three days) for the larvae to hatch. In 1978, shad eggs entrained into the Savannah River Plant 16 cooling-water canal sank to the bottom of the canal before reaching the pumphouse. Eggs removed from the water column in this manner due to decreasing water velocity and turbulence would most likely be lost to predation and burial in the bottom sediments. Efforts to determine egg densities in the river and intake canals were unsuccessful due to the persistent bloom of a slime fungus (Leptomitus sp.) which clogged the plankton sampling apparatus. Thus quantitative estimates of shad egg losses were not obtainable. Further qualitative data would not have been cost-effective so the observations were terminated. (ERA citation 08:013096)