Why is World Fish Migration Day, May 23rd, important for Alabama?

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You’ve heard of bird migration, butterfly migration and the ‘The Great Migration’ of the African Plains. You might have heard of salmon migration and how they swim for years in the ocean and return to their birth river to spawn and die. 

Did you know Alabama has fresh water fish migration? Here’s what it’s about and why it matters.

World Fish Migration Day on Saturday May 23rd, the global celebration to raise awareness of the importance of free-flowing rivers and migratory fish.

Why does fish migration matter in Alabama?

Alabama is home to more kinds of fish, mussels, snails and crawfish than any other state in the United States, according to the Nature Conservancy and groups that examine and rank biodiversity.

Many of these animals depend on fish that migrate throughout our waterways, rivers and streams for survival.

Because their habitat has been dammed and impounded for decades, we are losing many of them forever.

In fact, the Coosa River was home to the single largest extinction in North America, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with a loss of 34 freshwater species.

For Alabamians, World Fish Migration Day is not only a celebration of these extraordinary fish— it is a wake-up call.

In this first story, in a three-part series, we will examine why saving fish that migrate within our rivers and streams matters. Our second story will look at how small fish move up and down our rivers. And the third story will provide you with ways to support efforts to help protect and preserve fish and fresh water animals for future generations.

What are migratory fish + where to find them in Alabama

Many kinds of Alabama fish and animals migrate up and down rivers, from freshwater to saltwater or vice versa from ocean to freshwater. They can travel hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the upper Alabama River, for example, or short distances within a stream or a creek. 

They do this for many reasons;

• Search for food
• Find places to lay their eggs within a river
• In some cases they become critical transport for the growth of eggs and larvae of other animals such as mussels within a river.

In Alabama, fish migration developed over eons. All of that changed in the 1900s when fish and animals in every river basin were blocked from free swimming due to the construction of dams and impoundments along our waterways. The dams provided important power for electricity, navigation, flood control and recreation. While the dams were critical to our industrial growth they altered not only the natural migratory journey for the fish, but entire ecosystems.

A 2023 Southern Exposure Film called “Mussel Memory” describes how it happened.

Check it out.

Alabama Shad: Once abundant now gone from the state

Perhaps no other fish describes the “great disruption” of fish migration in the Alabama riverine system than the Alabama Shad.

More than 100 years ago, the fish was so abundant that there was a commercial market. Today, the fish is virtually gone from Alabama and is barely hanging on in Florida and Georgia.

The decline and disappearance of the Alabama Shad in the Mobile River basin is directly attributed to dam construction on the Alabama, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers, effectively eliminating the ability for the Alabama Shad to get to where it needs to reproduce. 

“Alabama shad are migratory in that they are born in fresh water, in our rivers, and then they migrate down to salt water, to the coast, and eat a bunch of plankton. They eat, they get fat, they get big and then they come back up into our rivers to spawn. 

I think of them as nutrient conveyor belts for our rivers and for our ecosystems. 

Alabama Shad is really important for the ecology of our rivers because they are the host fish for many freshwater mussel species, including the Elephant Ear mussel, which live in the Cahaba River. Mussels are important to our ecosystems, of course, because they filter water.”

Jack West. Special Projects director with Alabama Rivers Alliance, about the special role Alabama Shad once played within our rivers

Many of our mussels like the Elephant Ear mussel are ‘aging out’ at 50+years old! If we lose more of our mussels (as we have in the greatest extinction) our fresh water rivers and streams will be severely damaged.

Spotlight on rare animals and fish migration works in Alabama

Good news! There is a movement to bring back the Alabama Shad. In 2024, river advocates led by the Alabama Rivers Alliance, proposed legislation to name the fish the official migratory fish of Alabama. 

Even though this is largely symbolic, shining a spotlight on imperiled animals in Alabama has been a successful way to capture the public’s attention.

For example, in 2000, Alabama named the Red Hills Salamander the state amphibian. Two decades later, Forever Wild and several conservation land trusts have bought and saved the rare salamanders’ habitat, providing hope for its survival.

Other previously “lost to Alabama” animals that have made comebacks after decades of conservation efforts include:

• Bald Eagles
• Sandhill Cranes
• Black Bears  

Bringing back the Alabama Shad + other migratory fish in Alabama

In the case of the Alabama Shad there is a solution: A diverse coalition of conservation groups, scientists and the Corps of Engineers are proposing to build natural bypass channels around  Millers Ferry and Claiborne dams. This would provide access for the fish which have been mostly blocked since the 1950s and 60s.

If built, the passages will not only bring back the Alabama Shad and various mussels, it will also strengthen a number of other keystone migratory fish, including: 

• Gulf Sturgeon: A rare ancient fish that lives in saltwater + spawns in freshwater. It has been impacted negatively by dams, but has found ways to survive. If the bypasses work, the fish could return to its historic range within the Cahaba River Basin.
• Alabama Sturgeon: This namesake sturgeon is much smaller than the Gulf Sturgeon. Its range also reaches the Cahaba River where it was plentiful in the early 1900s. 
• American Eel: A fish that actually spawns in the Sargasso Sea in the open ocean near Bermuda, lives in Alabama fresh water rivers. 
• Blue Sucker: According to scientists, the fish use waterways like the Alabama River like an “interstate highway.” They can travel 100s of miles upriver to spawn.

“Alabama’s native fish are part of our state’s natural heritage. Restoring our native migration is about so much more than just returning the big fish to the rivers, they are the keystones of whole ecosystems.  When the fish can move freely, you know that the rivers are functioning as they should!”

Mitch Reid, Director, The Nature Conservancy in Alabama

How you can help

How can you support fish migration in Alabama? Support the following  groups and efforts:

• Alabama Rivers Alliance — The Alliance advocates making the Alabama Shad the state’s official migratory fish, along with supporting recovery efforts to bring back the once plentiful fish.
• The Nature Conservancy in Alabama – TNC supports developing fish passages around  Millers Ferry and Claiborne dams.
• Alabama Rivers and Streams Network – A group that brings together aquatic researchers, biologists, and conservationists from across Alabama to tackle this challenge through targeted restoration and recovery efforts.

Next up: Trispot darter migration in streams + creeks

Not all obstacles to fish migration are big dams and impoundments. We will explore the Trispot darter and why Alabama is called the “River State” with over 132,000 miles of rivers and streams and 10% of our nation’s freshwater resources.

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