Thanks for your signature, Bill Ray! I reckon that you are related to the Ray family of Silver Springs fame. Before Rodman Dam was completed in 1968, fish and other aquatic animals were able to migrate unimpeded up and down the Ocklawaha River from its mouth at the St. Johns River to as far upstream as Silver Springs (56 miles) and/or Moss Bluff Dam (64 miles). Most, if not all, of the following native fish and crustacean species of the St. Johns River system were among those migrants: Atlantic-race striped bass, channel catfish, white catfish, American eel, striped mullet (a.k.a. black mullet), big claw river shrimp (a.k.a. giant river prawn), American shad, and possibly Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. Have any of you seen any Florida-native CHANNEL or WHITE (a.k.a. "Blue") CATFISH at Silver Springs lately? -------------------------------------------- Martin, R. A. 1966. Eternal spring. Man's 10,000 Years of History at Florida's Silver Springs. "Chapter 9 - The Fishes of Silver Springs" by Ross Allen. Florida’s Silver Springs, Inc. (1966). Great Outdoors Press, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL. 264 pp. Excerpted from pages 194-196 by Ross Allen: "Channel catfish attract more attention at Silver Springs than any other fish. They are numerous, particularly around the deep spring holes, where they can be seen maintaining a position by swimming against the current. Large blue-black fish that attain a weight of 40 to 50 pounds, they have broad heads and thick cheeks and some 'old timers' have white spots on top of their heads...Many of these large catfish are seen in a deep spring hole which is called 'Catfish Hotel, with running water in every room'" "The white catfish, oddly enough, is not white in Silver Springs but is dark blue in color. Hundreds of them congregate in the Catfish Hotel, and may be seen in other spots hiding under logs or resting quietly on the bottom." -------------------------------------------- Show your support for the free migration -- St. Johns River to Silver Springs -- of the Florida manatee, channel catfish, and Atlantic-race STRIPED BASS. Note that the native Atlantic-race STRIPED BASS lost its only suitable spawning habitat of the entire St. Johns River basin (and the most southern in the U.S.) when Rodman (Kirkpatrick) Dam was closed across the Ocklawaha River on September 30, 1968. Riverine LARGEMOUTH BASS have been native to the Ocklawaha River for thousands of years -- they don't need Rodman Dam or Rodman Reservoir for their survival! Thank you to all that have already signed this petition and desire a free-flowing "Source to the Sea" 56-mainstream-mile "Real-Florida-By-God" Ocklawaha River - Silver River - Silver Springs system! Encourage others & spouses &/or significant others to do the same! Thanks for your support! Sincerely, Paul.