Ohio NFC Hosts "Native Fish Day" Event
The Ohio chapter of Native Fish Coalition recently worked with Geauga Park District in regard to a “Native Fish Day” event. In attendance for NFC were OH Chair Cameron Layne and OH board members Stephen Surmacz, Loughran Cabe and Nick Milkovich.
The event took place at Chagrin River in northeast Ohio with morning and afternoon sessions, both of which were well attended by people of all ages. The team netted the river to show the attendees the various native fish species.
One species the team encountered was longnose dace, a species of Special Interest in Ohio that is only found in a handful of streams in the state. Other notable species were stonecat, redside dace, rainbow darter, silverjaw minnow, and river chub.
In total, the attendees got to see roughly 20 species with only one nonnative fish encountered: Steelhead. These steelhead provided a platform to discuss nonnative fish and their impact on aquatic ecosystems.
Special thanks to Paul Pira of Geauga Park District who provided us with access to the sampling site, and helped with regard to presentations on sampling techniques as well as fish identification.
