Fish Consumption Advisories -

Whether you are fishing to enjoy the outdoors, spend time with family, or catch dinner, you should always be safe about the fish you eat. The South Carolina Fish Consumption Advisories tell you where you should limit the amount of fish you eat and where it is safe to eat as much fish as you like

Link to DHEC website

Youth Bass Fishing Championship to take place at Lake Murray

SCDNR's 2018 Youth Bass Fishing Championship will take place at Lake Murray on Saturday, March 24, 2018.
The youth anglers will launch boats at 5 a.m. and leave the landing at safe light around 7:30 a.m. This year's anglers will be fishing out of Lighthouse Marina and the Hilton Recreation Area. Student anglers are due back to the landings between 2 p.m. and 2:40 p.m.
The tournament weigh-in will be hosted at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds as part of the Palmetto Sportsmen's Classic. Weigh-in will begin at 4 p.m.
If you will be boating near the Lighthouse Marina or the Hilton Recreation area on Saturday, expect increased boating traffic and exercise safe boating practices.

While not for the faint of heart, cold February-March temperatures can bring on some of the hottest fishing around, especially if you are in pursuit of American Shad. South Carolina’s Santee River System (aka - The Santee Basin) supports some of the largest populations of migratory fish on the East Coast, including the American Shad. Keeping that fishery alive means keeping the Santee Basin healthy and restoring access to fish spawning areas; and that’s what the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and its partners want to accomplish with the recently updated Santee Basin Diadromous Fish Plan.
 
Originating in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the Santee Basin is the second largest watershed on the East Coast, second only to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and supports important commercial and recreational fisheries. For the migratory fish of the Santee Basin, an imperative part of their life cycle is being able to access both marine and freshwater habitats. For species of fish such as the Atlantic Sturgeon (federally endangered), Shortnose Sturgeon (federally endangered), American Shad, Hickory Shad, and Blueback Herring, which spend most of their adult lives in marine or estuarine environments, migration to freshwater is necessary for spawning. Other species, such as the American Eel, spend most of their adult lives in freshwater and migrate to marine environments to spawn. While gains have been made in restoring depleted populations of some of these species, restoring the fishery to historic levels means continuing to overcome habitat loss and degradation and impediments to spawning migrations and spawning habitat.

To improve the habitat of migratory fish and restore access to former spawning and maturation sites, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), SCDNR, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), developed the Santee-Cooper Basin Diadromous (migratory) Fish Passage Restoration Plan in 2001. The development of this plan led to a number of significant accomplishments including construction of a fish ladder at the Columbia Diversion Dam to provide passage for American Shad and Blueback Herring to access about 24 miles of spawning habitat on the Broad River. The plan also established scientifically-based flow criteria for restoration of certain fish species at five hydroelectric projects. Even more important was the establishment of the Santee River Basin Accord that created programs to conduct American Shad fry stocking and monitor spawning migration patterns of American Shad, Shortnose Sturgeon, and American Eel. more...