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DWR Shad Cam Returns for Its 22nd Season and Celebrates with Live Video Feed
Richmond, VA — The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is pleased to announce that Shad Cam has once again been turned on and now includes an exciting new feature for viewers to enjoy — live streaming video! Prior to this upgrade, the camera displayed a series of continuously updated still images, which refreshed every five seconds. This improvement was made possible through an ongoing partnership between DWR and the City of Richmond, who is providing the new camera and internet service.
Shad Cam is focused on a viewing window in the fishway’s counting room at Bosher’s Dam just west of Richmond, Virginia. The camera provides viewers with a night and day glimpse under the surface of the James River as fish swim upstream through the fishway. You can view the live stream at dwr.virginia.gov/shad-cam/.
Bosher’s Dam was constructed in 1823, making it impossible for fish to access over 300 miles of the upper James River mainstem and several significant tributaries. The vertical slot fishway, opened in 1999, creates a path for fish around the 10’ high dam. The fishway provides migratory fishes with access to critical spawning and rearing habitat upstream after nearly 200 years of obstruction.
In addition to providing wildlife enthusiasts across the state with this incredibly unique opportunity to observe fish as they migrate up the James River, the Shad Cam is also an important tool used by DWR fisheries biologists to estimate species diversity and the number of fish using the fishway each spring. “The fishway provides aquatic connectivity for a wide variety of fish species. This is especially important for the anadromous American Shad, which is a species of greatest conservation need. Providing access to spawning habitat is part of the restoration process. Shad Cam is an exciting way to check in on the migration action any time of the day,” said Alan Weaver, fish passage coordinator for DWR.
Throughout the years, DWR has documented 30 species of fish using the fishway including American Shad, Striped Bass, Sea Lamprey, Gizzard Shad, Smallmouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Quillback (a large sucker species), and American Eel. In some years, more than 200,000 Gizzard Shad, an important forage fish, pass through the fishway, at rates sometimes as high as 3,000 fish per hour! DWR estimates that in total, approximately 2.3 million fish have traveled through the fishway since 1999.
Initially installed in 2001, Shad Cam is DWR’s longest running wildlife viewing camera and has continued to remain a popular feature viewed by thousands of individuals every year. “The switch from still images to a live video feed is a much needed upgrade to the Shad Cam that I’m sure our viewers will be excited about,” said Meagan Thomas, watchable wildlife biologist with DWR. “There are quite a few wildlife cameras in the world that provide live video feeds of terrestrial wildlife, but only a small number of them focus on aquatic wildlife. Whether you’re an avid angler or just love watching wildlife, this cam provides a great opportunity to connect viewers to the underwater world of the James River fish communities.”
April should be a busy month for Shad Cam as water temperatures warm up and fish start their migrations upstream. The majority of fish species will ascend the fishway during the day while catfish species and native Sea Lamprey will primarily move upstream at night.
The Shad Cam will remain active through June, when most migratory shad have completed their spawning journey up, and back down, the James River.