Shock conservation: Keeping the boulder darter out of harm’s way

Harms Mill Dam on the Elk River in Lincoln County, Tenn., is set for removal by mid-November. In preparation, multiple agencies are grouping up to temporarily relocate some federally endangered species, including a small green/grey fish known as the boulder darter.

This Is Nashville’s managing editor, Tasha A.F. Lemley, put on some muck boots and headed to the dam with biologist Andrew Zimmerman — field coordinator with Conservation Fisheries in Knoxville. In this audio postcard, biologists use electricity to corral the three-inch fish so they won’t be washed away with the initial rush of water.

The dam removal is, itself, an act of conservation, reconnecting more than 1,100 miles of stream that flows into the Tennessee River and improving the ecological health of the waterway. The Elk River is home to 19 federally protected species.

The removed boulder darters will be bred and then returned once the Elk River flow has returned to normal.

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