Saving Seafood

High-Tech Satellite Tags Give Unique View into the Behavior of King Salmon

November 28, 2017 — Cornell University, New York Sea Grant, and charter boat captains have teamed up on a high-tech mission to learn more about the behavior of King Salmon in the Lake Ontario ecosystem.  They’re already getting valuable information from pop-off satellite tags attached to the fish.

New York Sea Grant Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist Jesse Lepak narrated a video that shows the tagging process with the help of charter captains.  It took about a month to tag 10 fish starting in early July.

“Once the fish are landed, they’re put in a Styrofoam cradle to help keep them calm, and lake water is pumped across their gills so they can  breathe.  The fish are then tagged with a monofilament harness that connects the tag to the fish.  The harness is crimped, and the excess monofilament is cut off.  The tagged fish is ready to go.”

 Read the full story at WAER

 

Waters Surrounding New York City Contain At Least 165 Million Plastic Particles — Making Its Way Into the Food Supply

February 13, 2016 — The waterways surrounding New York City are a soup of plastic, ranging from discarded takeout containers down to tiny beads that end up in the food supply, according to a new report by an environmental group.

The study, by the group NY/NJ Baykeeper, estimated there are at least 165 million plastic particles floating in New York Harbor and nearby waters at any given time.

The report was based on samples collected by trawlers that plied the city’s East River, the mouth of the Hudson River and New Jersey’s Passaic River and Raritan Bay between March and August 2015.

The average concentration of plastics was 256,322 particles per square kilometer, according to the report.

To maybe nobody’s surprise, the highest concentration, 556,484 particles per square kilometer, was found in New York City’s East River, which separates Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens and is known for its floating filth.

“It just goes to show you big problems need big solutions,” said Sandra Meola, a spokeswoman for Baykeeper.

The New York-New Jersey study was modeled on a pioneering study of the Great Lakes conducted by Sherri Mason, a chemistry professor at the State University of New York in Fredonia.

That study found plastics pollution in all five lakes, with the highest concentration in Lakes Erie and Ontario, which are ringed by urban centers and industry.

Read the full story at the New York Daily News