Hands-on activities for children and a fishing tournament for adults are highlights of Cape Fear River Watch’s eighth annual StriperFest, an event named after the striped bass population it raises funds to restore.
StriperFest kicks off Friday, Jan. 15, with a banquet and auction at the Coastline Conference and Events Center. Proceeds benefit CFRW’s mission to restore the Cape Fear River’s fisheries, which have declined as much as 90 percent in the past 100 years, the nonprofit’s website states.
The fish have been blocked from reaching their spawning ground since three large lock and dam structures were constructed in the early 20th century. One of the dams was retrofitted several years ago to allow the fish to cross, and during 2015 the first striped bass in 100 years was able to reach freshwater on its own, CFRW volunteer Maddie Polera said.
CFRW also recently found striped bass eggs and a tagged sturgeon at the second dam, she added, proving the success of the retrofit. CFRW’s next goal is to retrofit the other dams, and StriperFest funds will assist that effort, Polera added.
Friday night’s fundraiser is followed by a full day of activities Saturday. Participants in the striped bass fishing tournament leave the docks in downtown Wilmington at 8:30 a.m. The tournament is tag and release, so the competition to hook the biggest fish also aids CFRW’s tracking efforts.
“That way, we’re able to monitor the migration of those tagged fish up and down the river, so it’s the best way to estimate how successful our fisheries are doing,” Polera explained.
Educational activities aimed at teaching young people the importance of restoring the local fisheries will be organized from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Coastline Conference and Events Center. Polera said last year, between 350 and 400 children participated, and this year she expects even more.
“We’ve been growing every year,” she said.
This year’s entertainment includes watching a puppet show, exploring the internal and external anatomy of a fish, catching and identifying paper fish with a cane pole and a magnet, learning about fishing rods and casting a fishing line into a hula hoop, face painting and a variety of fish-themed arts and crafts.
While other aspects of StriperFest raise funds or assist scientific efforts, the children’s activities are free and focus on entertaining and educating.
“It’s really, wholly about just the experience,” Polera said. “This is something that we want to do for our community because we can’t do what we do without our community.”
For more information visit www.capefearriverwatch.org
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