Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Federal fish fight erupts over Hudson River PCB cleanup

March 31, 2016 — FORT EDWARD, NY — Federal agencies are fighting over how quickly the PCB dredging project of the Hudson River by General Electric Co. might someday make the fish once again safe to eat.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is disputing a finding by two other agencies — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — that EPA seriously overestimated by “several decades” how quickly recently-concluded GE river dredging will reduce PCBs in fish to levels fit for human consumption.

On Tuesday, EPA issued a 110-page rebuttal to the NOAA and Fish and Wildlife findings, which were first reported in 2015 and this week published in a peer-reviewed national scientific journal. Last fall, GE wrapped up a six-year dredging project between Fort Edward and Troy, although a coalition of environmental groups and river advocates said too much toxic pollution remains left behind.

EPA claimed less optimistic conclusions on future PCB levels in fish by other federal scientists “are not supported by the full range of available evidence,” according to an EPA statement accompanying its rebuttal.

Read the full story at the Albany Times-Union

New York DEC Reports Recovery Signs for Atlantic Sturgeon

February 29, 2016 — A joint Federal and State 2015 Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon Survey shows the highest number of Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River in the 10-year history of the survey and the trend of the results show an increasing juvenile sturgeon abundance (see chart below), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos has announced.

“Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon are at the highest level recorded in the Hudson River in the last 10 years. These survey results are an encouraging sign for the recovery of Atlantic sturgeon,” Acting Commissioner Seggos said. “We are cautiously optimistic that, with our continued vigilance and efforts to protect this species, Atlantic sturgeon will have a secure future.”

Commercial fishing rates for Atlantic sturgeon exceeded the ability of the fish to replenish themselves in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New York led the way in conservation through implementation of a harvest moratorium for Atlantic sturgeon in 1996. In 1998, an amendment of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sturgeon resulted in a coast wide moratorium on Atlantic sturgeon harvest for 40 years and aimed to protect two generations of females in each spawning stock.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

NEW YORK: Tappan Zee Bridge Construction Killing Endangered Fish In Alarming Numbers

October 16, 2015 — SOUTH NYACK, N.Y. — The new Tappan Zee Bridge may be costing us more than originally thought.

Environmentalists are blaming the construction project for killing endangered fish in the Hudson River.

As CBS2’s Lou Young reported, its been around since pre-history, but some are wondering if the Atlantic Sturgeon has finally met its match where the new Tappan Zee Bridge is being built.

The animals, which live an average of 60 years and can grow up to 15 feet in length, spawn in the river and have been turning up dead in what the environmentalists at Riverkeeper say are alarming numbers.

“This is an endangered species. The last published study on Atlantic Sturgeon had a total of 860 mature sturgeon in the Hudson River population,” said Leah Rae, with Riverkeeper.

In all cases, motorboats are being blamed, but the fish float far from the scene of the impact so solving the case is not likely an episode of CSI, Young reported.

Read the full story at CBS New York

 

NY considers annual shutdowns of nuclear plant to save fish

September 14, 2015 — Hearings began Monday on a proposal to close the Indian Point nuclear plant for part of each summer to protect fish during spawning season.

About 30 witnesses are expected to testify at hearings at the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany.

The DEC estimates that Indian Point’s system for withdrawing and discharging water from the Hudson River kills more than 1 billion fish, eggs and larvae every year.

The hearings will address proposals to shut the plant for 42 to 92 days each summer when fish are spawning.

“We look forward to providing the court with sensible alternatives to the destruction of a shocking percentage of Hudson River fish,” Cristopher Len, Hudson program director for the environmental group Riverkeeper, said in a statement.

Read the full story from the New Jersey Herald

Group Petitions to Save a Prehistoric Fish From Modern Construction

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — July 21, 2015 — The Atlantic sturgeon is among the oldest of fish species, dating from the time of the dinosaurs. It is the longest-living fish in the Hudson (up to 60 years), the largest (up to 14 feet) and the strangest-looking, with bony plates that make it look armored.

But looks can be deceiving, and the sturgeon is also endangered. Now, environmentalists say construction of the $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge here is killing scores of the fish. Most of them — both Atlantic sturgeons and the smaller shortnose sturgeons, also endangered but more plentiful — have been found dead along the shore, with injuries like long gashes and severed heads, suggesting impacts from boat propellers.

“They call them living fossils,” said Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, the environmental group devoted to the Hudson, “and we can’t be the generation that does them in.”

This month, the group, which is represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service, a federal agency responsible for offshore living marine animals and habitats, asking it to study the problem and take immediate action.

Read the full story from The New York Times