Hudson River Reserve Enlists High Schoolers to Help with Eel Research

The Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve in New York combined research and outreach efforts this spring by enlisting students from five Hudson River Valley high schools to sample migrating juvenile eels in the river’s tributaries to learn more about their complex life cycle.

American eels, a commercially and recreationally important species, are born in the Sargasso Sea and migrate as yearling juveniles into Atlantic coast rivers. They spend most of their lives in fresh water before migrating back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.

In recent years, eel harvests and the number of adult eels returning to the ocean have declined, so the Hudson River Reserve, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program, approached local high school science programs to find students who could “help answer some basic questions about this very mysterious animal,” said Chris Bowser, the reserve’s science education specialist.

The students collected samples at various stages of the lunar cycle, submerging 13-foot hoop nets for three days straddling each phase of the moon, full, quarter and new, collecting data help scientists to learn more about when the eels arrive, and what different factors, such as lunar cycles or temperature, affect their numbers.

This project ties in closely with other HRNERR projects, such as continued studies of shorelines and tributary mouths, as well as restoration projects on American eel passage above dams to access critical habitat. Baseline studies on glass eels can help point the way to potential additional eel ladders and other management strategies.

Bowser said this was the first year the program has used high school students to monitor the juvenile eel run. The reserve and the Estuary Program share a goal of involving citizens in hand-on exploration of local ecosystems, and the eel project was ideal. The sampling period is not too long (April and May), the techniques are simple enough to be done with moderate training, and the animal is surprisingly engaging, Bowser said.

For more information, see the newspaper article at http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS01/805290459/1025/NEWS09.

Posted: Monday, June 16, 2008