Enhancing Trout Sport Fishing
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New York Photo of Maid of the Mist by Barbara A. Branca Valuing our Resources Water — a most precious resource. are made possible in part by specifically That’s the real pot of gold at the end of designated Environmental Bond Act the rainbow. New York’s water resources monies. Related NYSG efforts help protect span the cataracts of Niagara Falls to the submerged aquatic vegetation, tidal calm embayments of Long Island Sound. wetlands, beaches and dunes, estuarine Often maintaining our water resources embayments, riverine habitat and migra- means protecting coastal habitats. tory corridors and coastal grasslands such Protecting habitats may involve actions as dune habitats. “Historic losses of these like keeping pollution from reaching these habitats have impacted once-productive precious waterways (See “CoastWatch,” fisheries and robbed the coastal ecosys- pgs. 8-9). Restoring habitats involves tem of many of its natural functions,” says repairing ecological damage that’s already NYSG Marine District Extension Program been done to the coastal resources. Coordinator Bob Kent. Restoration efforts underway in New York Continued on page 10 State’s marine and freshwater ecosystems Maintaining Coastal Fisheries page 4 Fisheries Research page 6 by Lane Smith CoastWatch: Clarifying Water Quality page 8 by Paul C. Focazio Coastal Habitat Restoration/ page 10 Water Quality Currents Training Tomorrow’s Scientists by Barbara A. Branca page12 Annual Report by Stefanie Massucci pages14 D ATMOSPH AN ER IC IC N A A D E M C I N O IS L T A R N A O T I I T ON A Late Fall ‘01 A Publication of the New York Sea Grant Institute Vol.30/No.3 N U .S . CE D R E E PA M RT OM MENT OF C From the Director New York Director New ork This issue of Coastlines ends both our 30th This issue’s Currents reviews some of Jack Mattice Associate Director Anniversary year and the presentation of NYSG’s efforts to educate the next genera- Dale Baker the Coordinated Issue Areas that we tion of scientists. These efforts, too, are Assistant Director highlighted to the review team that evalu- leveraged; by the individual universities Cornelia Schlenk ated our program for the National Sea Grant where the NYSG graduate student scholars COASTLINES Vol. 30, No. 3, Late Fall 2001 College Program (NSGCP). It’s particularly conduct research, by the federal funding Editor/Writer appropriate that restoring coastal habitat agencies that view our participation in Barbara A. Branca and water quality is paired with maintain- undergraduate research programs as a [email protected] ing coastal fisheries given the recent focus partial reason for providing funding; and by Contributing Writer Paul C. Focazio on use of essential fish habitat to manage the federal administrative and legislative [email protected] or restore fisheries. Fishing is a real offices where the Knauss Fellows work Lane Smith [email protected] contributor to New York State’s economy. for a year. Design Commercial fishing sales almost equal the L.C. Graphics value of the state’s fourth largest agricul- New York Sea Grant’s budgetary incomes Layout Sharon O’Donovan tural crop – apples. In fact, the commercial and outflows for calendar year 2000 on Production Assistants and recreational fishing and seafood page 14 show how NYSG researchers and Sharon O’Donovan industries have a combined total impact of staff have done a great job of competing for Susan Hamill $11.5 billion on New York State’s economy. outside funds from NSGCP, NOAA and other Coastlines is a publication of the New York The stories running from pages 4-7 highlight federal and state sources over the last few Sea Grant Institute, a cooperative program how NYSG’s role in helping state resource years when the federal and state base of the State University of New York and agencies manage these important fisheries budgets have remained flat. The full budget Cornell University, engaged in research, education and outreach concerning our depends not only on integration of the impact of NYSG is almost one-half again as marine and Great Lakes resources. research, extension, education and commu- large as indicated in the graph because all of Copyright © 2001 New York Sea Grant, all rights reserved. No part of this issue may nication programs, but on social as well as the NSGCP funds require a 50 percent match. be reproduced by mechanical, photographic ecological and fisheries science. or electronic process or otherwise copied for public or private use without the written This has been a rewarding anniversary year. permission of the publisher. Water quality and habitat are frequently The retrospective of Coordinated Issue interrelated as shown by the articles on Areas has given us the platform to highlight New York Sea Grant Institute 121 Discover y Hall, Stony Brook University pages 8-11. NYSG is involved in these the integration and contributions of NYSG to Stony Brook, NY 11794-5001 issues on Long Island, and in New York coastal resource issues in New York and (631) 632-6905 Harbor, the Hudson River and the Great the nation. We look forward to an even New York Sea Grant Extension Offices: Administration Office Lakes. Our activities are leveraged by more productive and successful second 30 340 Roberts Hall working with organizations at the national years and hope that you will join us in the Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-5905 (USEPA, NOAA, Nature Conservancy), state quest to “Bring Science to the Shore.” (607) 255-2832 (NYS Department of Environmental Conser- Great Lakes District Office vation), and local community (NYC Soil and Have a great holiday and the best of New Years. New York Sea Grant SUNY College at Oswego Water Conservation District, municipalities Oswego, NY 13126-3599 of Hempstead and Manhasset) levels. Again, (315) 312-3042 all NYSG programs play important roles. Marine District Office New York Sea Grant Cornell University Research and Extension Center 3059 Sound Avenue Riverhead, NY 11901-1098 (631) 727-3910 Some of the New York Sea Grant staff in attendance at our annual networking meeting, held in October 2001 at the Winter Clove Inn, Round Top, NY. Photo by Lenore Witcomb Learn more about NYSG’s Coordinated Issue Areas online: www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/NYSG@30 2 In this the third Coastlines in our 30th anniversary series, we focus on two of New York Sea Grant’s seminal issue areas: Maintaining Coastal Fisheries and Coastal Habitat Restoration/ Water Quality. Our two previous Coastlines issues brought to light our historic research and extension efforts in the areas of Seafood Technology, Sunrise, New York Harbor, Aquatic Nuisance Species, pre-September 11, 2001 Fostering Coastal Businesses, and Photo by Don Riepe some of our New Initiatives including research on brown tide, hard clams and lobsters. The Genessee River The lives of New Yorkers are leading out to Lake Ontario, Rochester, post- inextricably linked to the state’s September 11, 2001 water and fisheries resources, from Photo by Barbara A. Niagara Falls to the tip of Long Branca Island, from our mighty rivers to New York Harbor and our Great Lakes. Yet as we end this year in somber recognition of all New York’s incredible resources, let us understand what we value above all else — our human resources. — Barbara A. Branca Sunset, Orient Point Lighthouse, Long Island Photo by Barbara A. Branca 3 Coordinated Issue Area Maintaining Coastal Fisheries Each year, New York’s seafood, commercial fishing and sport fishing the future sustainability of the fisheries among researchers, fisheries managers and fishery stake- industries generate a total of $11.5 billion worth of economic activity holder groups. Some potential causes included statewide. The figure is part of a report released this past spring by possible food web unsteadiness, non-indigenous species impacts, heavy stocking pressure, nutrient New York Sea Grant (NYSG) under the guidance of seafood specialist reduction, fish predation by cormorants (see Spring/ Ken Gall, who compiled the 100-page read along with an advisory Summer 1999 issue), and the overall complexity of managing large ecosystems. committee of representatives from industry and government. In addressing these issues, New York Sea Grant has been and continues to be a credible and objective NYSG provided funding to economists at TechLaw, Inc. of information source between fisheries resource users Bethesda, MD who formulated the report’s estimates of economic and the research and management communities. NYSG played a role in the development and expansion activity for these New York industries. “Prior to this study, no one of the Lake Ontario fishery by educating anglers on had assessed the economic contribution of all three of these various techniques in locating, catching and identifying target sport species and practicing catch and release sectors to the state’s economy, ” says NYSG Director Jack Mattice. and by fostering growth of charter boat organizations and county fishery advisory groups. These efforts have created a sense of empowerment within the In addition to analyzing the economic impacts of these sport fishing industry. industries, NYSG maintains coastal fisheries throughout the state. In New York’s Great Lakes Working closely with researchers at Cornell and SUNY Promoting NY’s region, which includes Lakes Ontario and Erie, their College of Environmental Science and Forestry (CESF) Saltwater Sport tributaries, and the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers, in Syracuse, NYSG continues to address New York’s Fishing the bulk of NYSG’s fisheries-related upstate extension Great Lakes invasive species issues and monitor and research activities has been targeted on Lake impacts of the lakes’ sport fisheries on the region and Last year marked the 50th Ontario. This smaller, but more economically impor- its coastal businesses.