Local environmental group plans to release fish in Sligo Creek

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection is collaborating with Friends of Sligo Creek (FoSC), a local environmental organization, to release several species of fish back into Sligo Creek on May 1. The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a trash cleanup will take place in the morning, while the fish release will occur in the mid-afternoon.

Other activities include weeding invasive plants, listening to discussions about the fish and ecosystem and watching demonstrations on monitoring water quality. Montgomery County biologists are expected to capture Cutlips minnow, common shiner, fallfish, Rosyside dace and Spottail shiner in the morning. The fish will come from the North Branch of Sligo Creek and will be released in the afternoon into the section of Sligo by the Dennis Avenue Recreation Center. The Center is located at 10200 Sligo Creek Parkway in Silver Spring.

Barry Barth, the FoSC member in charge of the project, said that because these fish used to live in Sligo, they should adapt easily to the new location. "The fish were originally native to the creek, so [the environment] should support them," said Barth. "They're not an exotic species that could take over. I think we're just [concerned with] hoping that these fish will hold on."

Over the last ten years, Montgomery County has been dedicated to improving the health of the creek. Originally, there were only two fish species present in upper Sligo Creek, and now there are 11. Since downstream blockages prevent fish from swimming back into the creek, FoSC felt the only solution was to reintroduce fish caught from other streams.

Check out Silver Chips Online for further information to come about the FoSC event.