Since the 1970s, American shad and hickory shad populations have declined drastically in the Chesapeake Bay due to over-fishing, poor water quality and stream blockages. A 1980 fishing moratorium, habitat improvements, pollution mitigation and fish passage construction has not resulted in recovery, primarily due to lack of adult spawners. In 1994, Maryland DNR Fisheries Service and several partners began a program to reintroduce shad spawning runs to selected tributaries through restorative hatchery stocking. Traditional strip spawn culture methods require access to large numbers of ripe adults. We developed a new technique to induce spawning in broodfish collected from the Susquehanna River using synthetic reproductive hormone implants and tank spawning systems (Mylonas et al. 1995). Fertilized eggs can be produced from any migratory pre-spawned female. Larvae and juveniles are marked and stocked in target tributaries. Surveys are conducted to sample larval, juvenile and adult shad. From 1994 to 2011 the program has stocked 35.1 million american shad and 107.8 million hickory shad in the Choptank River, Patuxent River, Patapsco River and Nanticoke River.