URBAN FISHING PROGRAM RECAP
By Jared Eudell
More than 150 children were educated this summer to some of the more common problems facing their local waters and how they can make a difference. Over 20 volunteers of the Harbor Estuary Environmental and Urban Fishing Program visited seven middle schools this season and interacted with 152 students and numerous teachers and administrators to reinforce the importance of community watershed awareness.
The participating schools this year included the Elizabeth Presbyterian Center, the Midtown Community School, Washington School and Woodrow Wilson School in Bayonne, two schools in Newark, and the Hudson Vocational School in Jersey City.
As in the previous five successful years of this program, the students embarked on a four-day adventure of fun, learning and stewardship. Day one of the program consisted of a classroom presentation, in which the concepts of watershed, fish advisories and health consequences were explained.
During day two, students were led on a short walk around their school and/or water access point(s) where they picked up garbage and glued small plaques to storm drains encouraging people not to dump. This year, an EnviroScape model featuring non-point source pollution was added to day two.
The students were taken down to the water for day three where they conducted six scientific tests which assess the chemical, biological, and physical health of the river. There were also taken onboard Riverkeeper's pontoon boat for an educational eco-cruise on the water.
Fishing constituted the main activity on day four. Throughout the sequence, the students were given watershed pins, Urban Fishing Program buttons, and completion certificates.
Christine Hirt, WMA5 Watershed Ambassador, managed the program with the Assistance of Kerry Kirk Pflugh and Lynette Lurig of NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and with volunteers from Fairleigh Dickinson University, AmeriCorps, and Hackensack Riverkeeper.
Generous support for the program came from the Neu Family Foundation, NJDEP, Greater Newark Conservancy, Bayonne and Bayonne MUA, NJ Department of Fish and Wildlife, the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program, and Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc.