Herring Return To The Bronx River
Congressman Jose Serrano, John Calvelli WCS's Senior VP for Public Affairs, Linda Cox Executive Director of the Bronx River All
Photo by Jesse Moore
On March 22, 2006, Parks’ Natural Resources Group (NRG) facilitated the transplant of two hundred and one alewife from a coastal tributary in Connecticut to the Bronx River, signifying an important milestone in the restoration efforts along the Bronx River. Congressman Serrano, who has directed more than $15 million in federal funds to the restoration of the river, celebrated by releasing the first alewife into the river at the Bronx Zoo.
"Reintroducing herring into the Bronx River is one of the most remarkable steps in the transformation of this long-neglected waterway," said Congressman Serrano. "It is a real environmental victory for the Bronx."
In under 30 seconds, the fish plunged down a rubber chute from holding tank to river—an action representing years of work between community organizations and local and federal agencies. NRG has been working with the Bronx River Administrator, the Bronx River Alliance, and other community groups on river restoration projects since 2000, when NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, first began funding Bronx River projects. Alewife re-population was made possible through Congressman Serrano’s WCS-NOAA Lower Bronx River Partnership.
"Parks & Recreation’s Natural Resources Group has played a key role in helping to restore river herring in our region by assessing environmental conditions in the Bronx River and planning a network of fish ladders to facilitate upstream passage," said Commissioner Benepe. "This project represents the return of a historic species to the Bronx River and is a real testament to the work of Parks and its collaborators in improving water quality and environmental health in the past several decades."
The alewife will spawn in the river and migrate out to sea shortly thereafter. Their offspring will spend the summer in the river, migrate out to sea in the fall, and return to their home, the Bronx River, in 3-5 years.
"We’re saying that we care about this river," said John Calvelli, senior vice president for public affairs for WCS, which runs the Bronx Zoo. "We’re saying that it’s going to be clean three to five years from now, and we’re saying that we’ll be here waiting for them to come back."
After studying the river’s conditions, with technical help from fisheries experts in the region like Joe Rachlin of Lehman College, NRG concluded that the Bronx River’s freshwater habitat is adequate for blueback herring and alewife. Though typical urban river problems, such as low dissolved oxygen, may periodically stress these fish, dams appeared to be the only absolute obstacle to the re-establishment of river herring in the Bronx River.
Confident that the Bronx River offers adequate habitat for river herring, the Bronx River Alliance joined forces with NRG in the next steps of river herring restoration on the river: investigating passage alternative on the dams.
"We’re delighted to see all of the hard work of the Bronx River Alliance and our partners pay off with a river that is healthy enough to sustain these fish, " said Linda Cox, Bronx River Administrator for Parks and Executive Director of the Bronx River Alliance. " It’s a great moment of hope for all of us who have worked to clean up, protect, and restore the Bronx River."
Connecticut Department of Inland Fisheries has helped to jump-start the restoration by donating alewife that will spawn and establish a generation of fish that will call the Bronx their home. Transplanting will proceed annually for the next five years to build up the population. Beginning in spring 2009, NRG and partners will look for alewife at the foot of the first dam on the river, where they will be caught and transported upstream, or perhaps even find a brand new fish passage structure to greet them.
Anadromous fish, such as American shad, alewife and blueback (collectively known as river herring) spend the majority of their life in marine waters and migrate to freshwaters to spawn. Alewife and blueback, the smaller river herring, probably occupied the freshwater reaches of the Bronx River prior to the construction of the dams in the 1600s, and are still found in the river’s estuary today. Their restoration benefits the ecological health of the river, by increasing biological diversity as they attract large game fish into the estuary and attracting wading birds and raptors throughout the system, and by removing excessive freshwater nutrients through feeding.
Written by Marit Larson and Teresa Crimmens
QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
"I am myself and what is around me, and if I do not save it, it shall not save me."
José Ortega y Gasset
(1883-1956)