Collaboration with DEC Eel Study
The Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting a study of The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) at various sites along the Hudson River. They chose Groundwork Hudson Valley to coordinate a study in Yonkers, which will be the southernmost site in the study.
The American Eel is a migratory fish that is born in the Sargasso Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda, that migrates all the way to the Hudson River as tiny “glass eels” each spring and then swims up small Hudson River tributaries to mature. In the first week of the study we have found a dozen glass eels at the mouth of the Saw Mill River, an important Hudson River tributary. We are testing for eels further north in the river in Yonkers to see if they are making it beyond the mouth. The species is in decline over much of its range, making tributaries where they can safely mature very important.
This Yonkers study comes at a perfect time, before the groundbreaking for the Daylighting project, that will reveal and restore sections of the river that run underground. If the study finds that man-made obstacles are making it impossible for the small eels to get up the river, we may be able to engineer changes to accommodate them. To get involved in the study please contact Emily Ederat 914-375-2151.