water quality
NEIWPCC Partnerships
Hudson River Estuary Program
River Sampling
Through our partnership with the Hudson River Estuary Program, NEIWPCC supports the work of the Hudson River Fisheries Unit of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. A number of NEIWPCC employees work with the unit year-round and take part in its annual spawning stock survey. Each spring, the unit collects data on the American shad and striped bass that, after years of frolicking in the ocean, return to spawn in the Hudson, the place of their birth.
The unit utilizes a 500-foot long, 12-foot deep small-mesh seine net to haul in the fish, which are examined, weighed, and tagged. While perhaps the best method for ensuring a fair and non-selective sample, working with seines is labor-intensive and learning to use them effectively can take years. The Hudson is currently the only place on the East Coast where you'll find biologists using the nets to conduct spawning stock surveys. From late June through early November, the unit uses a smaller seine net to collect and examine juvenile shad, the so-called young-of-year.