Last weekend's Philly Fun Fishing Fest was, um, off the hook. Nearly 100 participants came to the Schuylkill banks, and the fish were definitely biting. A total of 225 fish were caught; 10 different species were hauled in during the catch-and-release event, including striped bass, white perch, yellow perch, channel catfish, white catfish, small-mouthed bass, blue gill, alewife, spot and blueback herring.

Thanks to our sponsors (Dick's Sporting Goods and Plano) and our partners (Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Schuylkill River Development Corporation). More photos after the jump.

This week, the Philadelphia Water Department is submitting a hydrology map for approval by City Council. This would be a step toward PWD's ultimate goal of protecting Philly's rivers and streams with a 50-foot buffer zoning ordinance. (Read more about the zoning code in Plan Philly's News Article.)

Stream buffers improve water quality and support aquatic life by providing habitat, reducing erosion and filtering stormwater. We want to limit development in these areas and encourage property owners to plant natural vegetation.

Our GIS (Geographic Information Systems) staff have been capturing and maintaining the hydrology data that is displayed on the map. We are sure that it is an accurate and complete representation of current waterways in Philly.

To learn more about planting a vegetated buffer in your backyard, visit our page about Backyard Stream Buffers.

Image: Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Here's some advice for American shad (who are not a huge part of this blog's readership, but nonetheless): Beware of the striped bass, and stop hanging around mackerel. This week's excellent article by Sandy Bauers in the Philadelphia Inquirer—"Where Are The Delaware River Basin's Once-Legendary Shad?"—expands the conversation about shad and examines some reasons why the native fish aren't yet ascending the fish ladder at the Fairmount Dam on the Schuylkill by the hundreds of thousands each year (more than 3,000 passed through in 2011, part of an upward trend in recent years). It turns out there are other fish in the sea:

As a whole, the East Coast population of American shad is considered "depleted."

Scientists working to restore the shad are finding that everything is connected. Among the reams of charts and data sets is one showing that as striped bass numbers have increased, the population of shad - their juveniles often prey of striped bass - has fallen. The lines on the chart look like a big X.

In recent years, attention widened to what was happening offshore, where shad spend four to six years growing to maturity. It turned out that they school with Atlantic mackerel, then wind up snared in the nets of fishing trawlers.

If and when the shad return in great numbers, the fish will find improved water quality in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, dams removed and fish ladders built, including the one operated by the Philadelphia Water Department and the Army Corps of Engineers at Fairmount Dam.

Previously:

Life Aquatic: American Shad

We've Been Shad

Northwest Passage: Fairmount Fish Ladder Helps Shad Swim Up The Schuylkill

A Shad State of Affairs

Upstream Battle: Shad Ascend Schuylkill Past Phoenixville for First Time in Almost 200 Years