Save the Sicklefin

Help is on the way for the rare sicklefin redhorse fish, in the form of an agreement signed by a coalition of government agencies and power companies bent on keeping the fish off the federal endangered species list. 

Though Cherokee people have long relied on the sicklefin redhorse for food—the large-bodied bottomfeeder can reach 5 pounds and 24 inches—it wasn’t identified as a species until 1992. It’s been a candidate for listing as threatened or endangered since the early 2000s.

As of now, the fish is found only in Swain, Jackson, Macon, Clay, and Cherokee counties in North Carolina, as well as in Towns County, Georgia. Parties to the agreement include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Duke Energy Carolinas, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Planned strategies include captive rearing, stocking, and a host of supporting efforts.