Saving Seafood

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