That means that there are a lot of different kinds of fish in a relatively low volume of water.
George’s nickname where she works out of Chattanooga’s popular Tennessee Aquarium is the sturgeon general. The aquarium has a significant series of exhibits on sturgeon, sort of the charismatic mega-fauna of freshwater. It’s a prehistoric, endangered and large fish that excites the public about preserving freshwater species. At one of the aquarium’s displays you can even touch them.
But it’s out here in the rivers where she sees the greatest opportunity for engaging the public in conservation efforts. Most people, even those who live right next to the water, haven’t a clue as to the colorful diversity lurking below, she says.
That’s changing.
We never got there. Our plans changed when the shutdown of the federal government cost us the use of federal guides and access to the forest. But the chance to impress about 15 journalists from around the nation was too good to miss. George and her crew at the Tennessee Aquarium, and with the help of experts like Rakes at Conservation Fisheries, scrambled to arrange equipment and access to the Tellico, a river in an entirely different watershed, but one that is equally rich in aquatic diversity.
Economic and educational impact
Ecotourism is hardly a new phenomenon. But how large of an economic impact river snorkeling might have is anyone’s guess. The restaurant adjacent to where we put in did a pretty good business in milkshake sales the day of our visit.
That may be a nice benefit, but regardless of the economic impact, the educational impact is huge, George said. She and other guides quickly explained the diversity of the fish we encountered, the threats to their existence, the recovery of some of them and plans for yet more conservation work.
These rivers are relatively unsullied by the point source pollution of factories that elsewhere left a legacy of hard to clean polluted sediments. They were harmed primarily by logging which allowed soil to run off the land and muddy them, Rakes explained. Now that the loggers are gone, the land is recovering – particularly on national forests.
So too are the rivers.
The greatest impediment to recovery is the lack of funds to restock the rivers with their native species, George said. River snorkeling can build the public support for that kind of investment.
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