Saving the River’s Fish

For schools of migratory shad, sturgeon, river herring, blue crab, menhaden and striped bass, the Hudson is an unimpeded corridor from the Atlantic to their ancestral spawning grounds. Tidal action stirs the brackish water and traps the rich stock of nutrients and minerals drained from the Hudson’s 13,500-square-mile watershed. These nutrients provide the basis of the food web, which feeds the younger migratory fish, making the Hudson one of the two principal spawning grounds on the East Coast.

However, studies show Hudson River fish species in serious long-term decline, and at risk of collapse.

Rainbow smelt has disappeared from the Hudson completely. Atlantic tomcod and winter flounder are on the verge of local extinction. Others – American eel, American shad, bluefish, hogchoker, white perch – show significant to severe declines. Striped bass populations had made a comeback some years ago, but now are declining due to overfishing. We’re seeing some hopeful signs for Atlantic sturgeon after decades of protection under the Endangered Species Act, but they are still at historically low levels. Being long-lived, they are slow to mature – it takes 20 years to reach maturity and lay eggs – and recovery will take a sustained effort.

To give the fish a fighting chance, we need to do more.

Riverkeeper’s Saving Hudson River Fish Campaign is aimed at halting the decline of Hudson River’s signature fish species and restoring their numbers to sustainable levels. The campaign addresses the many negative impacts on the health of the fish, including habitat loss and degradation, sewage overflows, power plant fishkills, fish barriers, invasive species, ocean bycatch and overfishing.

Read more in the links below about Hudson River species and efforts to protect them.

• Hudson River fish: The springtime procession
• News on Hudson River Fisheries
• Hudson River Fish Advisory – NY State Department of Health

• REPORT: THE HUDSON RIVER’S SPECIES ARE IN DECLINE

  Read about 16 iconic Hudson River fish species, the downward trends in their populations and the causes of their decline >

  Tom Lake: The Lives and Legends of Hudson River Fishes
  

• Removing Dams in the Hudson Valley

  New York State has an enormous opportunity to help fish populations rebound. About 1,600 dams, most of them obsolete, fragment the rivers and streams of the Hudson Valley. By removing dams, we can reopen vital spawning grounds, revive the web of life, and allow nature to heal and flourish.

  Riverkeeper is working to identify and remove dams where such opportunities exist. Our landmark success at Wynants Kill – a dam removal project by Riverkeeper, the City of Troy and the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2016 – was just the start. Within days of the removal, thousands of river herring were moving upstream to spawn for the first time in 85 years.

  We need your help to build on this success.

  Learn more and get involved: Riverkeeper.org/dams

• Threats to Hudson River Fish

  There are a variety of factors putting pressure on fish in the Hudson River, all of which need to be addressed if this critical natural resource is to be stabilized and restored to healthy levels.

  Threats to Hudson River fish include:

  – Habitat/spawning grounds have been lost
  – Low dissolved oxygen
  – Power plants with once-through cooling
  – A warming river
  – Overfishing
  – Ocean bycatch
  – Invasive zebra mussels
  – Vessel strikes
  Learn More

• Fisheries Management

  The fish of the Hudson River support recreational and commercial fisheries along the Atlantic coast worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and until recently, they supported several commercial fisheries within the Hudson. Due primarily to overfishing and habitat loss, commercial fisheries within the Hudson are all but gone.

  Riverkeeper was founded more than 50 years ago by local fishermen intent on protecting Hudson River fish. We continue that important work today, monitoring and influencing fishery management decisions that impact our fish.

  Learn more:
  Protecting menhaden >
  Protecting striped bass >