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By Kathryn C. Weigel
The riverkeeper remembers. He remembers what amounted to an obituary for the James River between Richmond and Hopewell in 1964. He remembers fishing the river with his Uncle Harry Fratarcangelo and having to wade into “greasy, stinky water” to launch their boat in the mid-1960s.
 He remembers the immediate and positive impact on river quality of the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility when it began operating 30 years ago. He remembers sighting his first bald eagle near the Appomattox River in 1984.
He’s a natural for the position of riverkeeper with the James River Association (JRA). He’s Charles A. “Chuck” Frederickson Jr., a Hopewell native, who has watched the James and its tributaries in the Heritage Rivers Region gradually begin to come back to life.
This past summer, Frederickson spoke at the Historic Hopewell Foundation Inc.’s 2008 Lunch and a Lecture Series. His topic was “Fish Grow on Trees” or how “Harry Homeowner” can help the James and Appomattox rivers continue to heal.
The James River Association’s research and observations indicate the James River Watershed is about halfway to full health. Its 2007 State of the James River report gives the river an overall grade of “C.” The report assessed fish and wildlife, habitat, pollution, and restoration and protection actions.
Bald eagles and rock fish (striped bass) have both made “A+” comebacks since the 1970s, said Frederickson. Oysters, American shad and brook trout still have considerable room for improvement.
Frederickson also keeps an eye on sturgeon, an enormous primitive fish with spiny plates whose roe is prized as caviar. They were so over-fished in the early 1900s that some experts assumed they were virtually extinct in the James. Then a young 6-inch sturgeon was found, and JRA took up the cause.
“Sturgeons are important because a viable population will show that their habitat is in good condition. Since the James was the largest sturgeon fishery in the Chesapeake Bay region at the turn of the 20th century, it is probably the key to sturgeon restoration,” said Frederickson. But underwater grasses, important for juvenile fish, are still missing between Richmond and the James River Bridge in Newport News. They are, however, flourishing in the Chickahominy River and several creeks – Herring, Flowerdew Hundred, Tomahund, Wards and Upper Chippokes.
On a spring afternoon between rainy spells, Frederickson used his Secchi disc to measure the clarity of the rivers. Without sufficient sunlight, the grasses just will not grow so there is no shelter for juvenile fish. Frederickson points to the radical contrast between the current cloudiness of the river and Captain John Smith’s ability to see his ship’s anchor in 40 feet of water in 1607.
Polluted runoff is the primary cause for the lack of clarity or light penetration. That runoff includes sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen from mismanaged construction sites, and plowed farm fields, as well as sewage treatment plants.
“Stricter permit limits will reduce nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater treatment plants,” said Frederickson, “but Virginia has not acted to regulate farms and storm drains.” He would like to see cows and their wastes kept out of the rivers and streams as well as wide buffer zones maintained to prevent runoff from plowed fields.
Frederickson brings a background in education and a varied career path to his work on the rivers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from East Carolina University and a master’s in educational administration and supervision from Virginia State University.
Licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard as a boat captain, he has run charter fishing and guiding operations on the Chesapeake Bay and the James. Frederickson is also a registered commercial fisherman.
He says he remembers when it was unusual to see a bald eagle. “Now it’s unusual not to see a bald eagle when I’m out on the water,” he said. The riverkeeper looks to the rivers for signs for seasonal changes: “When I first start seeing ospreys, I know winter won’t be around too much longer.” Many osprey pairs nest on channel markers and other structures in the rivers where they fish to feed themselves and their fledglings.
Chuck Frederickson is at home on the rivers, whether he’s running water quality tests, observing the wildlife, or taking inner city children boating and camping for the first time in their lives. He’s also at home with the idea that he’s helping to shape a better future for the James and the Appomattox as they course through the Heritage Rivers Region.
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