(Photo by Pat Byington, Bham Now)

McWane corporate team member Lisa Chaves (pictured wearing green shirt) is a member of the 2017 EMERGE Leadership class sponsored by the Green Resource Center for Alabama (GRCA). The class provides members with the resources they need to advance sustainability in their network of friends and colleagues.

The class recently partnered with the Cahaba River Society “field study” which included seining in the Little Cahaba River.  What is seining you ask?  A seine is a large fishing net made to hang vertically in the water by weights at the lower edge and floats at the top (pictured).  The group was able to catch and identify eight different species of fish.

The Cahaba River has an astounding 135 species of fish, more than any other river its size or larger in North America. In fact, out of the 770 species of mussel worldwide, 182 live in the Cahaba.