Hudson River Fish Need Your Letters of Support   |   Hudson River Fish in Trouble   |   Sample Letters to Send   | Clearwater Urges Support for Actions by Governor Patterson and the NYS DEC to Protect Hudson River Fish.   In response to a number of recent reports on the severity of the decline of a several important species fish, on May 27, 2008 Governor David A. Paterson announced a comprehensive program to help protect and restore Hudson River fisheries, including the American shad. The series of initiatives will be implemented by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to help understand the potential causes of declining fish populations, rebuild fish stocks and to assess the health of the Hudson River ecosystem and find ways to improve it.   American shad stocks are at historic lows throughout the Atlantic Coast. Shad spawning stock (adult fish) which return to the Hudson to reproduce have become smaller and younger, while mortality has increased to excessive and unacceptable levels. The shad recovery plan, to be implemented by DEC and other partners, will address many of the suspected causes of the fishery’s decline. Over-fishing, habitat loss, increased populations of predatory species, and competition for food sources are among the many factors to be evaluated. The long-term goal of the plan is to restore shad to healthy and sustainable population levels. This will be achieved by:   Continuing ongoing American shad monitoring programs that annually track current conditions and progress being made towards recovery; Reducing shad mortality in rivers and oceans and at water intakes throughout all stages of life through DEC’s permitting processes; Characterizing and reducing the unintentional catching (known as “bycatch”) of shad during commercial fishing for other species; Characterizing and restoring critical spawning and nursery habitats; and Conducting additional ecosystem studies that analyze the food web, including the effects of predators and invasive species.   Efforts undertaken in the shad recovery plan are anticipated to have significant benefits for many other species, including Atlantic sturgeon, striped bass, fluke, sharks, scup, winter flounder, butterfish, sea turtles and dolphins. Because shad only spends part of their life in the Hudson, federal intervention is needed to prevent shad populations from being indiscriminately harvested by commercial trawlers seeking other species. The Governor has called upon the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service to accelerate federal action to protect this important fishery.   Governor Paterson also announced that New York is participating in a new private/public partnership called the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS). This collaborative monitoring network will use stations located throughout the Hudson to provide data and other information essential to the management of the estuary. The HRECOS website provides real-time information about each of seven monitoring sites.   DEC has also issued two enhanced permits to reduce polluted runoff in urban areas and from construction sites and which impact the Hudson River watershed and fisheries. In addition, as part of the permitting process for facilities like power plants, the state assesses the impacts water intakes can have on fish larvae and eggs. The number of fish entering water intake pipes (entrapment) each year at the two Indian Point nuclear power plants alone is significant—over 1.2 billion fish eggs and larvae, including bay anchovy, striped bass, and Atlantic tomcod—with the vast majority dying during the process. Another 1.18 million fish per year become trapped against intake screens (impingement) and are killed or injured. We urge the Governor and the DEC to act swiftly and aggressively to minimize the negative impact of power plants on the imperiled Hudson River fish by requiring them to switch from highly consumptive, once-through cooling systems to closed-cycle dry cooling, which will reduce cooling water caused fish mortality by as much as 97%.