Population Augmentation
More than 70% of the native freshwater mussels in North Carolina are imperiled. Populations throughout the state are in decline and during periods of drough fragmented populations have been brought towards the brink of extinction. Our efforts to propagate freshwater mussels provide both basic information about their biology as well as provide the potential to support the augmentation of decling populations. Several augmentation efforts are in progress in cooperation with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the US Fish and Wildlfe Service.
Juveniles propagated in the mussel barn are transported to our cooperative hatchery in Marion operative by the Wildlife Comission. After reaching sufficient size to warrant release they are returned to the streams in which the adult females were collected to initiate our propagation efforts.
Augmentaiton sites
Eno River |
