Albert Spells: Man of faith, champion of fish
Albert Spells tells a story about a small stream in Barnwell, South Carolina, that flows through a culvert under Route 278. His brother Carnell and friend Thomas dubbed it The Little Stream. The Little Stream was their favorite fishing hole as young teenagers.
“It wasn’t much of a stream, but it was ‘our stream,’” he said. “We could always catch fish at The Little Stream, and we thoroughly enjoyed fishing there.”
During spring break of his freshman year at South Carolina State College, they went to fish at The Little Stream. They found the stream and its banks filled with trash.
“I think it was probably at that moment that I decided I wanted to work in the aquatic ecology arena,” he said.
Leading by example
In his 40-plus years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, most recently as project leader for the Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Charles City, Virginia, Spells has distinguished himself as a champion for migratory fish in Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay. He is a man of great character and faith, which serves him both personally and professionally.
“Partners know Albert will represent their interests with integrity and honesty,” said Bill Archambault, manager of the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Complex. “Commercial fishermen, tribal representatives, and numerous NGOs have worked with him over the years and count on him as a friend and trusted federal partner who follows through and keeps his word.”
Restoring — and revealing — fish
Early in his career, as manager of Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery, Spells helped restore American shad to the Chesapeake Bay. Partnering with Virginia state agencies, hatchery staff released more than 36 million shad larvae into the James River and other rivers of historical importance under his direction.
For decades, Atlantic sturgeon were rarely seen in the Chesapeake, and most people thought they were gone entirely, but Spells never lost faith. He believed they were still returning to the bay’s rivers and was determined to find them.
In 1997, he partnered with the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to launch a program recruiting commercial fishermen to help locate the fish.
Any waterman who caught a sturgeon in Virginia waters and held it until Service staff could tag and release it received a $100 reward. In less than a year, more than 300 sturgeon appeared, including two- to three-year-olds, proving the fish were spawning in Virginia’s rivers.
“For the recovery of at least one species — Atlantic sturgeon — Albert was the lone advocate for over a decade, when everyone else had written off this species as extirpated,” said Dr. Greg Garman, Director of the Rice Rivers Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. “We were all wrong, and Albert was right.”
Removing barriers
As administrator of the National Fish Passage Program in Virginia for the last 16 years, Spells has secured more than $1 million in grants and $2.6 million in matching funds to remove barriers to fish migration. Through strong partnerships, he has helped reconnect 1,750 stream miles. Last year’s removal of Jordan’s Point Dam on the Maury River alone connected 1,140 miles of fish habitat!
Spells partnered with the Piedmont Environmental Council and Trout Unlimited in 2013 to fund a road-stream crossing assessment in the Upper Rappahannock River watershed, leading to five updated crossings and three pilot fish passage projects on private lands. The work sparked discussions with the Virginia Department of Transportation about using stream simulation design in bridge and culvert maintenance.
“Albert’s approach has always been, ‘Let’s get this done. How do we do it?’ said Celia Vuocolo, Wildlife Habitat and Stewardship Specialist with Piedmont Environmental Council, a partner in the project. “His spirit and optimism are infectious. He has been an incredible ally, champion, partner and all-around leader and doer without whom our fish passage projects would not have happened.”
In 2016, Spells helped secure funding to assess road-stream crossings in priority Chesapeake Bay tributaries and identify potential barriers to shad and river herring. More than 300 structures were rated in partnership with VDGIF and the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. It was the first evaluation of crossings in central Virginia in more than 30 years and led to an NFPP project with the James River Association and Virginia DOT.
“When Albert gets involved in a passage restoration project, he fully engages from the planning stage through full implementation,” said Alan Weaver, fish passage coordinator for VDGIF. “I have spent many days in the field with my friend and good partner Albert.”
As the Service’s lead on an innovative cooperative trout-stream restoration initiative, Spells lined up more than $1.3 million in NFPP and partner funds to open streams to Eastern brook trout, Virginia’s state fish. When complete, updating poorly designed culverts in the headwaters of the Rappahannock and lower James rivers will restore 23 stream miles.
Prioritizing people
Spells is committed not only to fish but also to people. He helped pioneer the Shad-in-Schools Program, driving many thousands of juvenile American shad from the Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery to schools in the Washington, D.C., area. Students raised the fish in their classrooms — in tanks designed by hatchery staff — and released the fry into the Potomac River. Programs from Maine to North Carolina were modeled after his.
He remembers fondly the years he represented the Service at the Boy Scouts of America’s National Jamboree, introducing recreational fishing and conservation ethics to thousands of young people from around the world. He is popular at special events at Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery and James River National Wildlife Refuge, where he draws in visitors with a live sturgeon and a lively program about fish passage.
In his personal life, Spells is passionate about working within his church family to educate on the word of God and help his community, both local and worldwide. He enjoys gardening, tending to a backyard pollinator garden to connect with nature during challenging times like these. Sharing time with his family, whether at home or traveling, is a priority. And, of course, there’s always fishing.
Finishing strong
His upcoming retirement has done nothing to slow Spells’ pace. At Virginia FWCO, he is working to secure NFPP funds for removal of the Rapidan Dam on the Rapidan River; encouraging the Virginia DOT to include stream-simulation design in their road-stream crossing projects; and promoting use of eDNA — a forensic technique for finding genetic traces of a target species in a water sample — as a tool for prioritizing projects.
Taking the long view
While he inspires others, Spells finds strength and hope in the people he works with — both within the Service and in partner organizations. He admires their determination to “perpetrate a conservation ethic to protect and conserve our natural environment, understanding that we will not win every battle before us but knowing, as Edward Abbey said, we will ‘outlive the #@%&8s.’”
Though he’s preparing to move on, Spells will leave a lasting legacy. His leadership and accomplishments will continue to enrich the lives of others, and his faith will no doubt guide him to more good works.
If you’re wondering whatever happened to The Little Stream, so is Spells. He hasn’t been back since college, but it’s on his retirement to-do list.
