Tuesday, December 15, 2009
More Seahorses
A few weeks ago, AREAC received some new captive-bred seahorses from a breeding facility in Hawaii. Under the careful watch of Rob Dickie, we hope to eventually produce our own offspring from the breeding pairs as part of the ornamental aquaculture research program.
Above is a juvenile seahorse and below is an adult female. We now have a total of 3 breeding pairs (captive-bred) and one wild caught seahorse from the Hudson River.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Fish Rescue in Prospect Park Lake
AREAC to the rescue! Paul Forlano, Brett Branco and Rob Dickie joined the staff of the Prospect Park Alliance and some volunteers last Wednesday to rescue fish from behind a temporary dam in Prospect Park Lake. Some major shoreline construction will be going on at the lake as the outflow drain is rebuilt and the shoreline is reconfigured.
The AREAC crew arrived with their 50 foot seine net and some waders. The mud was thick and deep and the going was tough. At one point, Rob began a slow descent into the muck and had to be rescued. After a couple of passes, with the seine net, everyone pitched in with hand nets to scoop the fish hiding in the shelter of the dam.
While we were there, hundreds of small sunfish were captured along with a catfish and a large mouth bass. Paul spotted an American eel slithering in the mud, but it made an escape. The Alliance and the volunteers continued on after our departure and we're still waiting to find out what the final fish tally was. Next week, a much larger section of the lake will be dammed and drained and we will pitch in to rescue more fish, turtles and whatever else we find.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Welcome to Paul Forlano
Monday, September 21, 2009
New York Marine Sciences Consortium: Annual Meeting
Brooklyn and Biofuels
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Seahorses have arrived!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Dr. Schreibman educates congress on aquaculture
Monday, September 7, 2009
Does a nautilus ever forget?
Lots of Attention on the Gowanus Canal
They proposed an alternative approach that the E.P.A. has sometimes used that would allow polluters to voluntarily pay for the cleanup under binding agreements. To help bring them to the table, the officials said, the Army Corps of Engineers could complete a feasibility study it has already begun that calls for the corps’s own environmental restoration project at the canal. Such an effort would be eligible for separate federal funding and could reduce the ultimate price tag for the polluters.
As for that Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study, it looks like some funding for that has been secured. From a July 18th story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved $300,000 in federal resources for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study currently underway at the Gowanus Canal and Bay.
In the meantime, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy is spearheading an effort to improve water quality by building a Sponge Park along the banks:
Construction on the Sponge Park is scheduled to begin this fall. Supporters hope it will lead to cleaner and better smelling water along the Gowanus Canal.
It will be interesting to follow the progress of the various stakeholders over the next few years. Everyone wants the same thing...cleaner water and a healthy ecosystem.