Wednesday, June 25, 2008

They’re Hee-ere! Early Influx of Menhaden Positive Sign

By Chip Young

Narragansett Bay undergoing significant changes

Twenty-four million menhaden.  Say it again: Twenty-four million.

That’s a lot of anything—M&Ms, paper clips, pennies—never mind fish.

But that’s how many menhaden, a prized baitfish, there are right now in Narragansett Bay, predominantly in the Upper Bay and Providence River.  The average size of the fish is just about one pound.  The estimate is based on net surveys and aerial flyovers by Department of Environmental Management fisheries scientists who are part of the Bay Window Monitoring Partnership.  Said one of the DEM researchers who did the aerial reconnaissance, “It’s harder to find water where there isn’t menhaden than where there is.”

Early readings from the Bay Window program, a partnership of state and federal agencies and academia that provides a ongoing broad data-gathering, research and assessment of the health of Narragansett Bay, indicate positive signs in the Bay fisheries to date this year, while the warming of the Bay and incidences of low oxygen levels in the Upper Bay remain an area which needs constant oversight. (Full disclosure: I am a member of the Bay Window project’s steering committee, so at least I know of what I speak, but the scientists do have to speak slowly when they explain things to me.)

That 24 million total is nearly double that at this time in 2007, a year which drew all sorts of public attention as the fish were sighted in large numbers well up into the Upper Bay and Providence River.  This is very good news on many fronts, as the current location of the fish in Upper Bay areas is helping to greatly reduce high-rising fuel costs for commercial fishing boats going after the desirable bait.  It is also encouraging for the rest of the summer, because menhaden are an important fish for other food supplies, and they are bringing striped bass and bluefish into Bay after them, as in 2007, which was a tremendous season for recreational fishermen. The size of some of the stripers being caught this year in the Bay are enough to make experienced eyes pop.

On other fronts in Narragansett Bay, warming and climate change have been a growing concerns in recent years, as they have many wide-ranging impacts. The average Bay temperature is up 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 20 years, winter average temperature is up 4 degrees F, and the Bay is moving towards becoming like a southern estuary—think the Carolinas.  This will not only affect fisheries, but is a major catalyst for possible fish kills, because warm temperatures are a contributor to a of lack of oxygen for marine life, which becomes depleted in part due to large nutrient loadings. 

The Bay Window partners had accurately predicted from its past timeline of research information and that summer’s data the infamous 2003 fish kill in Greenwich Bay, which sparked a concerted state and federal effort to pinpoint the causes of the event and take management steps to avoid a repetition in the future.  Rhode Island is investing millions of dollars into upgrading wastewater treatment plants and increasing storm drain protection to reduce nutrient loadings, a $400 million investment in mitigation in Upper Bay alone.

The Bay Window ongoing surveys and monitoring show that the Narragansett Bay quahog population remains stable compared to 2007, which is an encouraging environmental and economic sign. An abundance of clams is a valuable indicator of good Bay health.  It is believed that a combination of management area actions and use of spawner sanctuaries, and fewer rainfall closures and quahoggers, has contributed to this stability.  This is encouraging for shellfishermen, but rainy days mean shellfish closures, so hopes remain for a dry summer.  But overall in recent years, shellfish closures are flattening out, which scientists see as a good sign for all involved.

The Bay Window monitoring has been funded since 1997 thanks to the efforts of Rhode Island Congressional delegation, who came through last year with $916,000 in federal funds for the 2008 program, a real coup in these bleak budget days. 

For information on Bay Window and its data, people are encouraged to go to: Bay Window, which is designed to serve as a clearinghouse for scientific and general information on Narragansett Bay.

Meanwhile, here is a quick snapshot of what is being seen as emerging trends out in Narragansett Bay heading into the summer of 2008:

EMERGING TRENDS IN NARRAGANSETT BAY - 2008

OVERALL:  The picture is good to date.  Narragansett Bay is holding steady if not improving with its fish populations, it’s just that the species have changed.  Where most of the fish used to be bottom dwellers in the past (1980s - e.g., winter flounder), they are now those that swim in the water column (scup, menhaden).  That is likely to be the case as long as low oxygen levels in upper Bay and climate change (Bay water warming) continue.

Change from bottom-dwelling to water column fish has commercial and recreational impacts.  Winter flounder (once so abundant they were “the first fish you caught in the spring and the last fish you caught in the fall”) are no longer there for fishermen, commercial or recreational.  This has an economic impact, as winter flounder are worth $2 per pound to commercial fishermen, while menhaden and scup only get $0.10 to $0.75 per pound

BAY WARMING:  Yes, that’s climate change, and we are seeing it in Narragansett Bay.  Average Bay temperature is up 2 degrees Fahrenheit in past 20 years, winter average temperature is up 4 degrees F, and we are moving towards becoming like a southern (South Carolina, Georgia) estuary.  This will not only affect fisheries, but is a big catalyst for possible fish kills, because of lack of oxygen which gets depleted due to large nutrient loadings.  Rhode Island is investing millions of dollars into upgrading wastewater treatment plants and increasing storm drain protection to reduce nutrient loadings ($400M investment in mitigation in Upper Bay alone)—all actions driven by Bay Window data on temperature, nutrient level and oxygen levels after disastrous 2003 Greenwich Bay fish kill, which scientists predicted down to the actual date, but could do nothing about at that time.  That is why new management actions were immediately begun.  The state cannot eliminate or predict the possibility of a major fish kill (minor ones are the norm every year) at this point due to the number of variables involved. 

MENHADEN: Combined with last year’s abundance, the 24 million menhaden seen in Narragansett Bay at this point provides a good feeling that this shows improved water quality, and their presence also contributes to a healthy ecosystem which can be appreciated by non-consumptive users, conservationists, and the general public. Menhaden are also in the Bay early as in 2007, and that effects commercial fisheries movement. The location of the fish (Upper Bay areas) is helping greatly with fuel costs for recreational and commercial boaters alike.  It is also good sign because menhaden are an important fish for other food supplies, and they are bringing striped bass and bluefish into Bay after them, like last year, which was a tremendous season for recreational fishermen.

QUAHOGS: The population remains stable compared to 2007, which is an encouraging environmental and economic sign. Abundance of quahogs is an indicator of good Bay health.  This is encouraging for shellfishermen, but rainy days mean shellfish closures, so you hope for a dry summer.  But overall over recent years, shellfish closures are flattening out, a good sign for all involved.

LOBSTERS AND OTHER FISH TO DATE:  Looking up.  Trawl survey in June 2008 provided a mixed bag of highs and lows.  But mostly highs. Lobster, winter flounder, summer flounder, sea herring, scup, and squid numbers were up compared to June of 2007, with sea herring and scup up considerably. 

UP TO THE MINUTE INFO:  Overall, all species of recreational (and commercial) importance are present throughout Rhode Island coastal waters, with the Sakonnet River offering the widest diversity of both predator (stripers, bluefish) and prey (menhaden, scup) species.  Time to get the rod and reel out.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Life’s A Beach, Ain’t It?

By Chip Young

Why we love beaches and keeping them clean

I have always thought that a beach is the world’s cheapest psychiatrist.  It’s free, and you just sit down, watch the water, listen to the waves and mentally veg out, letting your blood pressure drop as fast as ethanol stock shares.  Nine out of 10 therapists, life coaches and any other of today’s self-styled stress messiahs invariably begin their soothing mantra with “Close your eyes and pretend you’re on a beach…“

On the more actively involved side, I have also found that body-surfing is an excellent way to clear out the mind after work. Get a good long ride with only the sound of the rushing surf churning in your ears as you shoot through the water at full stretch and you forget about every annoying person and thing that bothered you all day long.  Although this particular health treatment plan does come with the occasional unexpected head-over-heels, somersaulting flip from a big wave that runs about two gallons of seawater through your sinus cavities and fills your swimsuit with incredibly aggravating and abrasive sand and seaweed.  Just nature’s way of making it real.

And as we encounter weather like that of the recent “Where did this come from?“ sizzling temperatures, it is also nice to sometimes merely walk into the chilly water up to your neck and stand there, to try to put out the flames erupting all over your head and body.

Beyond the mental and physical benefits, beaches are also a huge economic boost for The Ocean State. Tourism brings in millions of dollars every year, and on a given summer day, largely because of our shore and beaches, our population can nearly double as out-of-staters head for the water like a motorized march of the penguins. So it would figure that given those benefits, it would be a good idea to make sure that both residents and visitors know that Little Rhody’s beaches are clean and safe.

No worries, Rhode Island is on the job.

The state Department of Health’s Beach Monitoring Program begins testing the state’s 126 monitored beaches each spring, as they begin their collaborative work with local beach owners, volunteers, cities and towns, and other state agencies to collect samples, monitor water quality and protect the public health.  The program samples coastal beaches five days a week, and receives sample results from its partners seven days a week.  The DoH constantly refines its sampling strategies to focus on areas of greatest concern and when bacteria counts are most likely to be present.  Read: After a heavy rainfall. (For updated info on your local beach or destination site, you can call the DoH Beaches Hotline at 401-222-2751.)

The number of beach closure days is directly related to the amount of rain we get.  In 2006, a heavy year for precipitation, individual beaches were closed for an alarming total of 351 days. In 2007, a moderate year for rain, the closures only numbered 96 all summer.  That’s better.  But it is what happens in the entire watershed, inland as well as right at the shore, that dictates how clean our beaches are.  Stormwater runoff and storm drains deposit oil, gas, and crowd favorites such as pet and wild animal waste directly into our rivers and streams, which then carry those elements down to their natural endpoints at Narragansett Bay or the Atlantic Ocean.  So what you do inland as far as disposing of waste and toxics can be just as important as if you did it while you’re standing up to your ankles in water at the beach.

Fortunately, the Beach Monitoring Program has a 24-hour turnaround time for sampling, so communities who have their beaches closed because of a heavy rain can find out ASAP when they are cleared to re-open by taking daily samples to be assessed.  This doesn’t negate the fact that beaches in the Upper Bay, which are near more populated urban areas with nastier runoffs impacts and flush out more slowly than South County ocean beaches, aren’t more likely to take a heavier hit from the rain, but it does speed up the process of getting folks safely back into the water.

And if you are like me, you are always looking for that sign that says, “The Doctor is in.“

A video feature on the DoH Beach Monitoring Program can be seen on the Channel 10/URI Watershed Report by clicking Watershed Report.

 

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The Sun Rises in Olneyville

By Chip Young

New fish ladder signals Woonasquatucket resurgence

There was a time not very long ago when city kids thought the only wildlife that existed in urban rivers was shopping carts and used tires.

Not so these days, thanks some remarkable restoration projects going on statewide.  The most recent success story to emerge into the spotlight is the opening June 2 of the Rising Sun Fish Ladder in the Olneyville section of Providence.  The fish ladder, located at the the newly redeveloped Rising Sun Mills on Valley Street, will restore a vital link between Narragansett Bay and the Woonasquatucket River watershed 140 years after it was severed.  It is only the first step in a sequence of activities that will allow migratory fish such as alewives, blueback herring and shad—“anadromous” fish that spawn in freshwater and live in saltwater—to return to their place of birth in the spring to produce a new generation that will live in the river until the fall, when they will depart for the Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The unerring ability of the fish to return upriver to where they were born to spawn after months in the ocean remains one of Mother Nature’s little tricks and treats to ponder when you’re daydreaming.  Especially when it involves an often forgotten and invisible river.

No one has ever mistaken Olneyville for the Left Bank in Paris, but slowly and surely the area, with an influx of the local arts community, and a rejuvenated Woonasquatucket River winding through as it runs from North Smithfield down to Providence and the head of Narragansett Bay, has been making a comeback.  You may not see the Woonasquatucket as it winds around Merino Park, hidden by the bushes and trees along its banks as it flows past the abandoned mills, but the natural, indigenous wildlife of fish and birds is gradually returning to replace the shopping carts and tires.

This ecological renaissance in the Renaissance City is being led by partners that include the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Coastal Resources Management Council, the R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association, The Armory Revival Company and the owners of the Rising Sun Mills, Streuver Bros. Eccle & Rouse, all of whom contributed to the project’s funding and sponsorship.  The job is far from over, however, as the dam at the site, which the fish ladder allows the returning fish to circumvent as the head upstream, is just one of others still remaining on the path back home.

Dams along the river, which resulted from the the development of Providence’s historic textile mills in the late 1800s, are still in place upstream from Rising Mills.  They present a problem, because while everyone has a vision of salmon making great airborne jumps as they forge up a Northwest River to their spawning ground, alewives and herring are not NBA-level leapers.  Instead, the fish ladders give them a set of stairs up and around the dam that they can do a little fish hike to eventually get to their destination on the other side. Some of the other dams on the river are in bad condition and slated for removal.  The next challenge will be the Paragon Mills dam, due to be removed this summer, which will provide 40 new acres of spawning waters, while having the added benefit of reducing flooding problems that now regularly occur in the neighborhood.  A combination of removal and building new fish ladders at three other upstream dams will clear the way all the way to Johnston for the watery intrepid travelers.

Twenty years ago, the idea of fish returning to spawn was a dark prospect.  The sun is indeed rising on the Woonasquatucket River these days.