Saving Seafood

USD 12 million awarded for restoring fish habitats, growing oysters in Long Island Sound

Decemeber 4, 2025 — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has awarded USD 12 million (EUR 10.3 million) in grants to support the health of the Long Island Sound, with much of the funding supporting improvements to fish habitats, marine debris removal, and oyster recovery.

The grants will also leverage USD 8 million (EUR 6.9 million) in matching contributions from recipients of the funding, bringing the total investment to USD 20 million (EUR 17.2 million). The grants were awarded through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund, a project launched in 2005 in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve the health of the sound and conserve habitat.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NEW YORK: Dredging operations underway at Lake Montauk Harbor

November 5, 2025 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York District has begun dredging operations at Lake Montauk Harbor in East Hampton, N.Y., with work expected to continue through January 2026.

The federally maintained navigation channel is being dredged to restore safe passage for commercial fishing vessels, while sand from the project will be used to rebuild eroded beaches west of the harbor’s western jetty.

“Equipment and the dredge have arrived, and work will begin soon to restore safe navigation in the harbor and maintain access for Montauk’s fishing fleet,” the Town of East Hampton said in a social media post.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

One of Long Island Sound’s most invasive species is appearing on dinner menus. Here’s why and where

October 8, 2025 — The European green crab, commonly found in the Long Island Sound, is becoming a beloved culinary dish known for its sweet, rich and complex flavor.

But unlike other types of standard seafood fare found on menus in Connecticut, the green crab is considered one of the “world’s most invasive species” to inhabit the icy waters off New England. The crab is believed to have come to the eastern Atlantic from western European waters over 200 years ago and is known for causing ecological harm as a voracious predator, consuming up to 40 half-inch soft-shell clams in a single day and eating a variety of shellfish including scallops, mussels and oysters.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, green crabs are considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment because they have very few predators, aggressively hunt and eat their prey, destroy seagrass and outcompete local species for food and habitat. The crab is now found from Maine all the way down to Delaware, according to the NOAA.

Read the full article at Hartford Courant

CONNECTICUT: New law looks to bring invasive species out of Long Island Sound and onto your dinner plate

October 2, 2025 — A number of new laws take effect today, including one that helps cut down on invasive species in Long Island Sound.

The goal is to help get invasive species out of Long Island Sound and onto your dinner plate.

James Beard Award Winner David Standridge runs two restaurants in Mystic, The Shipwright’s Daughter and Mystic Fish Camp.

Standridge uses hundreds of pounds of green crab, an invasive species, in his menu items. There are thousands of green crabs in Long Island Sound that live in shallow, rocky water close to land.

Read the full article at WFSB

Studies find “troubling decline” of horseshoe crabs in Long Island Sound

September 18, 2025 — Researchers at Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.A.-based The Maritime Aquarium claim new studies show a “troubling decline” in the horseshoe crab population within Long Island Sound.

“Horseshoe crabs are a cornerstone of estuarine ecosystems, and their decline is alarming in its own right but also has cascading consequences for other animals and ecological processes,” Maritime Aquarium Vice President of Conservation Sarah Crosby said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Fulton Fish Market Cooperative rallies to urge Trump to halt Empire Wind project

July 18, 2025 — Bronx, New York City, USA-based Fulton Fish Market Cooperative held an emergency rally on 16 July to urge U.S. President Donald Trump to halt the Empire Wind offshore wind project that seafood industry stakeholders claim will put their livelihoods at risk.

Seafood industry stakeholders gathered at the event – many of whom were unionized employees of the market – said the project threatens their livelihoods and those in New York’s seafood industry. Fulton Fish Market Cooperative CEO Nicole Ackerina said the project will heavily damage the industry and push it out of the region.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Warmer waters are affecting fish and coral in Long Island Sound, experts say

August 7, 2023 — Warming waters are affecting a variety of marine life in Long Island Sound.

The sound is actually home to coral – the Northern Star Coral – and the species is helping New England scientists learn how warmer water linked to climate change might affect coral found in the tropics, too.

Shawn Grace, a marine ecologist and biology professor at southern Connecticut State University, is studying the long-term effects of Northern Star Coral that never went dormant last winter. He said temperatures were too high in Long Island Sound, so the coral stayed active.

“We brought some in just to check what they were feeding on. And yeah, they were actively feeding throughout the entire winter,” Grace told Connecticut Public’s “Where We Live.” “For me, this is the first winter that we’ve ever experienced this.”

Grace said there are thousands of colonies of corals to study – both in Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island.

Read the full article nhpr

Great Meadows Marsh Project is Restoring Salt Marsh Habitat and Building Resilience in Coastal Connecticut

May 17, 2022 — Funding recovered from three pollution cases is supporting restoration of nearly 40 acres of salt marsh and other coastal habitats at Great Meadows Marsh. The marsh is located in the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Stratford, Connecticut. Through this effort, NOAA and partners are strengthening the climate resilience of this important coastal ecosystem.

Great Meadows Marsh lies immediately west of where the Housatonic River meets with Long Island Sound. Most other salt marshes in Connecticut, as well as many marshes along the Atlantic coast, were historically ditched to eliminate disease-carrying mosquitoes. Great Meadows Marsh, however, is home to the largest remaining expanse of unditched salt marsh in Connecticut. The unditched condition of this marsh provides a healthier and more functional habitat overall.

Salt marshes provide habitat for fish and wildlife, trap pollution, and reduce damage from storms and flooding—important benefits  for local communities. The Great Meadows Marsh restoration effort will provide important habitat for fish, including spawning and nursery habitat for forage fish like Atlantic silverside, mummichog, and Atlantic menhaden. It will also help build the ecological resilience of the marsh to respond to increasing sea level rise.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA proposes National Estuarine Research Reserve in Connecticut

September 2, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA: 

NOAA and the State of Connecticut are asking for public comment on a proposal to designate a national estuarine research reserve in Long Island Sound. Estuarine reserves protect a section of an estuary and provide a living laboratory to explore and understand important areas where rivers meet the sea, thus promoting understanding and informed management of coastal habitats. If designated, this estuarine reserve in the southeastern part of the Constitution State would become the 30th such reserve in the national estuarine reserve system and the first in Connecticut.

“This proposal for an estuarine reserve in Connecticut demonstrates this Administration’s commitment to conservation and addressing the impacts of climate change,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Protecting our special places and making them accessible for future generations improves our planet, our people, and our economy.”

Within the boundaries of an estuarine reserve, communities and scientists work together to address natural resource management issues, such as nonpoint source pollution, habitat restoration, and invasive species, on a local scale. Estuarine reserves contribute to the national effort to make the coasts more resilient to natural and human-made changes. Our nation gained its most recent estuarine reserve in January 2017, when the state of Hawaii designated the only reserve in the Pacific Islands.

“Partnerships are what make the estuarine reserve system successful,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “Each reserve brings together local stakeholders, scientists, land management professionals, and educators to understand coastal management issues and generate local, integrated solutions, while leveraging nation-wide programs.”

NOAA and the State of Connecticut will jointly hold two public hearings via webinar on October 7 to solicit public input on the draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan for the Connecticut estuarine reserve. Additionally, the comment period remains open through October 18, 2021. Connecticut, in collaboration with NOAA, then plans to prepare the final environmental impact statement and final management plan. Thereafter, NOAA plans to prepare designation findings and a record of decision. If the designation process follows its anticipated timeline, the estuarine reserve could be designated as early as January 2022.