"State and federal wildlife officials have a rare opportunity to stem the decline of American shad on the Susquehanna River, a Chesapeake Bay tributary crucial to annual spawning runs."

"Populations of the species have historically suffered from industrial pollution and overharvesting by recreational anglers, but losses on the East Coast have increased in recent decades from offshore commercial mackerel fishing and hydroelectric power plants on freshwater migration routes.

Energy companies are now negotiating with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for 30-year license renewals for three plants in Maryland and Pennsylvania, a process that will enable the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, corresponding state authorities and private sector conservationists to demand improvements to existing fish ladders."

Deborah Weisberg reports for the New York Times' Green blog November 21, 2011. [2]