SHORELINES

"This continues the history of cooperation with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," Baker said. e finelined pocketbook gets its name from the delicate lines that ring its shell. But the name also harks to the remarkable way the pocketbook propagates. As part of their reproductive process, pocketbooks release a glue-like mucous that stretches out in the river current, like fine fishing line. At the end of the gummy line, the pocketbook's larvae are attached in a tiny clump. e larvae wiggles and shimmies in moving water, mimicking tiny bait fish, and are snapped up by larger fish, especially black bass. e bass serve as a host for the larvae, which grow and develop over a two-week period in the fish's gills before eventually dropping off into the water. By hitchhiking on the fish, pocketbook mussels can also spread their offspring farther along the waterway. Todd Fobian, a biologist with ADCNR's Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, was among the team searching for the finelined pocketbook. "ey kind of look like rocks on the bottom of the river, but they're a lot more than that," he said. "ey're down there filtering and feeding on algae and bacteria. Mussels are nature's little filter systems," Fobian said. He said the oval-shaped pocketbooks can grow as big as 4-inch saucers, with some freshwater mussel species known to live as long as 100 years. Mature freshwater mussels can take in and filter as much as 8 gallons of water a day, helping protect and improve water quality, Fobian said. Mussels also are "pretty big components of the ecosystem and the food chain," Fobian added, providing a source of food for fish and reptiles, small mammals and birds. Eric Spadgenske, state coordinator for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program at USFWS, said there are relatively few mussel species thriving in the Tallapoosa, which makes efforts to find existing populations and improve their habitat especially important. e goal: to expand the population to the point that they can be removed from federal protection and to prevent other species from being added to the list. Removing the Howle and Turner Dam was a significant step toward improving water quality in the upper Tallapoosa, Spadgenske said. He said the survey by Alabama Power and partners, and other ongoing research, point to better days ahead for rare species in the Tallapoosa. "at's certainly our expectation and hope over the next five to 10 years." Fobian noted that the finelined pocketbook is among the species ADCNR is breeding at the agency's Aquatic Biodiversity Center in Marion. Depending on the outcome of the Tallapoosa survey, the agency could consider augmenting any pocketbook populations found in the survey with mussels raised at the center or re- introducing the mussel to some sections of the river – if none is found. Other elements of a management plan for the mussels could include streambank restoration to reduce sediment and working with private landowners along the river to improve water quality. Spadgenske said there is a growing alliance of individuals and groups working together to protect and improve waterways and water quality in Alabama. e Alabama Rivers and Streams Network includes multiple federal, state and local agencies, researchers, private landowners, nonprofits and businesses, such as Alabama Power, who all agree that clean, abundant water is a benefit to everyone. Baker said Alabama Power will continue to coordinate with others to support habitat and species protection on the Tallapoosa River and other parts of the state. Spadgenske added, "Everyone has a role to play. Without the work and support of all these organizations and stakeholders, public and private, including Alabama Power, a lot of these projects wouldn't get done. It has really become a fine, moving machine." To learn more about the extraordinary array of mussel species in Alabama, and those in greatest need for conservation, check out ADCNR's website: outdooralabama.com. 23 apcshorelines.com

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