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2023 Annual Business Meeting
November 3, 2023 @ 8:00 am - November 5, 2023 @ 5:00 pm CDT
The Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership (RFHP) held its 13th Annual Meeting in Morristown, Tennessee. Thanks to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for hosting!
The complete briefing book, business meeting minutes, and meeting photos and videos are available if you are logged in and have access to that membership level.
November 4
Old Hickory Fish Habitat Project
- Phillip Parsley
Interest in reservoir fish habitat improvement methods and evaluation has increased in recent years. Organizations like Bass Pro Shops and Friends of Reservoirs have made grant funding available to help financially support these projects and to bring awareness to their importance. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was recently awarded such a grant to help fund a wide scale fish habitat improvement project on Old Hickory Reservoir, located close to Nashville, TN. The project joined together funding from the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Agency and Bass Pro Shops to create 31 new fish habitat sites over a 7 mile stretch of the reservoir. Specifically, 10 sites received 20 "spiders" and 20 "jacks" each and will receive a special Bill Dance Fishing Trail buoy, 10 sites received three experimental structures each called "Tennessee Towers", and 11 sites received 100-150 tons of large (2-4' diameter) rock. Because of depth restrictions, most structures will be evaluated using down imaging sonar, hook and line sampling, and angler reports. Project costs, methods, lessons learned, and early evaluation information will be discussed.
November 5
Download the complete agenda here: Meeting-Agenda_2023
Schedule at a Glance
- Thursday – November 2, 2023
- arrive at hotel
- limited transportation arrangements can be made via TWRA personnel – car pooling from airport
- dinner on your own
- Friday – November 3, 2023
- workshop – TVA
- lunch (provided by RFHP)
- field trip and/or habitat build
- dinner on your own
- Saturday – November 4, 2023
- business meeting AM
- lunch (provided by RFHP)
- technical sessions PM
- banquet
- Sunday – November 5, 2023
- technical sessions AM
- noon – adjourn – lunch on your own
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will be hosting a workshop consisting of their experts in the fields of:
- River and reservoir operations – operation of dams and water with multiple stakeholders interests in mind.
- 26 a permitting – requirements and how to of applying for permits, allowing fish habitat to be placed in aquatic environments.
- Shoreline stabilization – methods and techniques for shoreline stabilization across different types of waterbodies.
- Aquatic plants – identification, treatment, and solutions for dealing with common non-native, native, and invasive aquatic plants.
Each presenter will be giving information pertaining to their areas of expertise with time for questions and discussion.
A networking event will occur Friday, November 3 after the workshop. Please indicate your interest during your registration, and we will accommodate as many as possible.
Please ensure you have your fishing license for Tennessee. TWRA offers a 3-day license (as well as others) which can include trout if desired. Purchase your license here: https://gooutdoorstennessee.com/ViewPackage.aspx?pid=17&lrtid=2&annual=0