Fish Flourish

In Lower Hackensack River

 

A new study of fish populations in the Meadowlands confirms that the Hackensack River is a river in recovery. The Fishery Resource Inventory, conducted from 2001 to 2003 by the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute and funded by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, reveals a better balance of fish species than 15 years ago and an increase in larger predatory fish, like striped bass and white perch.

Water quality, especially the overall level of dissolved oxygen, has improved since an initial study from 1987 to 1988. More kinds of fish are thriving in the middle and northern reaches of the Meadowlands district, with notable increases in the white perch, the Atlantic silverside and the gizzard shad.

Yet, because chemicals have settled in the sediments of the Meadowlands, most of the fish still carry dangerously high levels of toxic contaminants like mercury and PCBs. “They’re not edible,” said Francisco Artigas, director of the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute (MERI). The study revealed that some white perch in the river carried PCB levels 10 times greater than national guidelines for safe eating.

“The difference between today and 15 years ago is dramatic,” said Captain Bill Sheehan, executive director, Hackensack Riverkeeper. “There is much more diversity in the river today and the game fish are coming back. That means the river is cleaner and getting healthier every year.

“We all have to remember that the Clean Water Act is the landmark legislation that began the process of recovery on the Hackensack River and all of our urban rivers. Out of it has flowed all of our national, state and regional laws and regulations that protect our waterways. We see the benefits of the Clean Water Act every time we go out on the river.”

MERI scientists spent two years setting nets in 21 locations along the Hackensack River, Overpeck Creek, Berry’s Creek and other tributaries. They studied the numbers and types of fish caught, the levels of pollutants in certain species, the quality of the water, and the reproductive health of fish. Most of the caught fish were released unharmed.

Fifteen years ago, the pollution-tolerant mummichog (or killifish) dominated the waters, representing 85 percent of the fish caught. The minnow-like fish now accounts for about 40 percent of all fish. Other striking differences include the increase in the abundance of white perch (which increased from 1% of the catch in the 1987-88 study to 28% during the current study). The Atlantic silverside increased from 3% to 16%. The gizzard shad went from 0.1% to 4% and striped bass increased from 0.1% to 3%.

The Executive Summary, which can be downloaded at meri.njmeadowlands.gov/projects/fishstudy.html, pointed out some of the human-driven changes that have helped the river recover:

• Sealing garbage dumps and diverting 1.5 billion gallons of their poisonous liquids away from the river to treatment plants.
• The closure of four small municipal sewage plants.
• Improvement of sewage treatment at two larger plants.

In 1995, the PSE&G generating station in Ridgefield Park ended its practice of withdrawing water from the Hackensack River for use as a coolant.  The plant had been sucking 645 million gallons of water daily from the river and returning it at higher temperatures, which dramatically harmed fish populations.

Along the southern reaches of the Hackensack River, near Kearny, river water is still being used for industrial cooling. The fish in that area did not show improvements from the first study.