Atlantic sturgeon photo by Amanda Higgs. Atlantic sturgeon research monitoring
and photos were taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Permit No. 20340
by Helena Andreyko
If you live in East River Housing, chances are you can look out a window and see the East River. What catches your eye as you look over the water? Is it the sailboats going by, or a tug pushing a tanker, or do you count the kinds of gulls flying overhead? But have you ever stopped to wonder what’s beneath the surface of the water? Could anything be alive, moving, thriving in that dark murky river?
For many years the waters around New York City were polluted from years of abuse stemming from raw sewage, dead carcasses, and garbage that was either dumped directly into the waters, or that poured in, untreated, through pipes of our combined sewage system – a system of underground piping that allows both sewage and street runoff to flow together. This onslaught of pollution caused the waters around the city to become putrid and devoid of oxygen. Though they live in the water, fish still breathe oxygen, and require at least two to four parts per million (ppm) just to survive, let alone thrive. For a number of years in New York Harbor oxygen was below survival levels, and at some locations during the summer, dissolved oxygen was practically zero, making it a pretty dismal environment for aquatic organisms.
But in the 1970s, with the passing of the Clean Water Act, New York City began upgrading its sewage treatment plants. Early plants simply removed solids (primary treatment); upgraded plants now treat waste through bacterial digestion (secondary treatment) before disinfecting it and releasing it back into the river. Thanks to improved water quality from restrictions on dumping and the work of the sewage treatment plants, oxygen levels around New York City generally range from six to twelve parts per million, making our fishes very happy.
And it might surprise you to know that the East River is not actually a river at all. It’s technically a tidal straight, connecting Long Island Sound and New York Harbor; and because of this connection, it rises and falls with the tides. The water is saline, with a salt content a little less that of the ocean, and has very strong currents that give it a fierce reputation. The murky appearance is a mixture of sediment and a mix of planktonic (floating) organisms, and it generally has a visibility of only a couple of feet.
But within that murky water lies a world that is teaming with life. A world of crabs, mussels, oysters, and yes, lots of fish. New York City, before the invasion of the Europeans, was a paradise of rivers, streams, and marshes that served as one of the greatest nursery areas of the East Coast. The young of both resident (fish that stay in the river year-round) and anadromous fish (fish that live their adult lives at sea and return to rivers to spawn) that used the nooks and crannies of these marshes and streams as shelter and protection from larger predators until they were large enough to make it on their own.
Though most of our marshes are now covered with cement, fish still live and spawn in our rivers. According to Tom Lake (editor of the Hudson River Almanac published by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation) who keeps a running list of species identified in the Hudson River, a whopping 237 species have been documented! And if they wander into the Hudson River, chances are they are also swimming outside our windows.
Would you be surprised to find a six-foot relic of the age of dinosaurs, the Atlantic sturgeon? A six-footer weighing 220 pounds was recently captured in the Hudson by the fisheries unit of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. But it was small compared to the 14-footers that were historically caught! We have two species of sturgeon in New York waters, the Atlantic sturgeon, and it’s smaller cousin, the shortnose sturgeon.
Smooth dogfish caught in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo by Peter Park.
Or have you considered the possibility of sharks? Stories of eight to 12 foot sharks were not uncommon during the City’s early history when slaughter houses, tanneries, and markets used the rivers as garbage dumps, attracting them for an easy meal. Today, you will commonly find the much smaller, smooth dogfish, although there are also undocumented reports of sand tigers and spinner sharks.
And if you look out over the water one day and see it roiling and churning, fish popping up, and birds flying overhead, chances are you are watching a school of menhaden, whose increasing populations are credited with in the more frequent sightings of whales in New York Harbor. Or, you might think you were in the Caribbean if you saw a seahorse. But every summer, here they are in the East River, accompanied by their resident cousin, the pipefish. Both are regularly caught in seine nets off the beach along with Atlantic silversides, bay anchovy, blennies, killifish, skilletfish, and juveniles of many larger fish such as Atlantic needlefish and tomcod. Watching anglers fishing off of the park’s railings, you’ll see them catch tautog, striped bass, white perch, bluefish, black bass, porgy, American eel, flounder, oyster toadfish, and sea robins, to name a few.
Though hidden in that murky green water, I hope you can imagine the vibrant world of fishes living in our East River the next time you look outside your window.
Beautiful Oyster toadfish. Photo by Peter Park.
Helena Andreyko has a Master's degree in biology focusing on ichthyology and is fascinated with New York's fishes. She is a 14-year resident of East River Housing.
Thanks for the info