Shad is a fish that has found its home in the Hudson River for decades for spawning its eggs in the spring time. While you wont find HUGE fishing boats in the River like what are featured on the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch you will find quite a few recreational sized fishing boats with fishing poles hanging from all sides throughout the River.
The shad population has been dwindling for at least the last twenty years. The River which once had millions of shad is now so scarce that many restaurants do not even offer the fish or its roe on their menus. The Hudson River Maritime Museum, located in Kingston, no longer offers an exclusive Shad Fest in May either. Fran Dunwell, NY DEC Director of the Hudson River Estuary Program reports that older shad are not in the River as much as they used to be. Additionally, allot less baby shad are being hatched in the Hudson now than what was shown in the past and statistics continue to show the number falling.
This past Thursday Governor David Paterson, D-NY declared that New York will do its best to turn the tide in the hopes of returning the herring to a respectable population again. Paterson will direct the New York DEC to impose stricter controls at water intakes along the Hudson. This includes not only power plants but the water supply systems that span the Hudson as well. Dunwell estimates that more modern intake screens and systems could reduce fish kills by 90 percent.
Additionally, Gov. Paterson called for stricter federal rules to reduce the dieing population with commercial fishermen in the Atlantic. Dunwell said that the State will also add more inspectors to the ocean fishing fleets to see how many shad are being accidentally caught and to insure that they are set free in the ocean.
Finally, the State announced a public-private partnership, setting up a network of monitors to insure that the shad are healthy enough to breed. These seven monitoring stations along the Hudson will be located at; Castle Point on the NJ side of the River, the George Washington Bridge, Piermont Pier, Norrie Point, Tivoli Bays [North and South], and Schodak Island. The sensors will provide readings on river temperature, oxygen levels, salinity, weather, tidal changes, and various types of pollution. For more information on the monitoring system check out: http://www.hrecos.org
The shad population has been dwindling for at least the last twenty years. The River which once had millions of shad is now so scarce that many restaurants do not even offer the fish or its roe on their menus. The Hudson River Maritime Museum, located in Kingston, no longer offers an exclusive Shad Fest in May either. Fran Dunwell, NY DEC Director of the Hudson River Estuary Program reports that older shad are not in the River as much as they used to be. Additionally, allot less baby shad are being hatched in the Hudson now than what was shown in the past and statistics continue to show the number falling.
This past Thursday Governor David Paterson, D-NY declared that New York will do its best to turn the tide in the hopes of returning the herring to a respectable population again. Paterson will direct the New York DEC to impose stricter controls at water intakes along the Hudson. This includes not only power plants but the water supply systems that span the Hudson as well. Dunwell estimates that more modern intake screens and systems could reduce fish kills by 90 percent.
Additionally, Gov. Paterson called for stricter federal rules to reduce the dieing population with commercial fishermen in the Atlantic. Dunwell said that the State will also add more inspectors to the ocean fishing fleets to see how many shad are being accidentally caught and to insure that they are set free in the ocean.
Finally, the State announced a public-private partnership, setting up a network of monitors to insure that the shad are healthy enough to breed. These seven monitoring stations along the Hudson will be located at; Castle Point on the NJ side of the River, the George Washington Bridge, Piermont Pier, Norrie Point, Tivoli Bays [North and South], and Schodak Island. The sensors will provide readings on river temperature, oxygen levels, salinity, weather, tidal changes, and various types of pollution. For more information on the monitoring system check out: http://www.hrecos.org
No comments:
Post a Comment