Lake Norman, located 17 miles north of the city of Charlotte, NC is a 32,510 acre reservoir or the Catawba River. Finished in 1964, Lake Norman has two resident power stations; Marshall Steam Station in Denver, NC, a coal operated steam station build in 1964 and McGuire Nuclear Station, managed by Duke Power in Huntersville, NC.  Since 1964 the lake has become home to large populations of sport fish including largemouth and spotted bass, black crappie, channel catfish, striped bass (stocked), bluegill, white bass and white perch.  More recently the lake has become inhabited with other prey species such as blueback herring, alewife, gizzard shad, and threadfin shad. Previous studies on growth and abundances of these fishes suggest large amounts of competitive interactions between both large predators and smaller prey fish due to the large fish biomass in the reservoir.
This cooperative study, with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, will consist of 5-years of data collection using electroshocking gear, gillnets, larval fish sampling, benthos sampling, and zooplankton collection. Over this time period we aim to understand the processes and patterns driving food web dynamics in this large reservoir. Specific areas of interest include:

1. To what extend to Largemouth and Spotted Bass hybridize in Lake Norman?
2. How have white perch impacted the Lake Norman food web and have they caused localized extirpations of other fish such as white bass?
3. Where do competitive interactions exist between large predators in the lake?
4. What factors influence sunfish growth and survival?
5. To what extent do hypoxic conditions effect movement and competitive interactions?

Answers to these and other questions will be used to make better management recommendations for  Lake Norman and other large southeastern reservoirs by being able to predict patterns in sport fish dynamics.