Creatures of the Bronx River — Part 2
Saturday, December 2nd, 2006
When he was a child, Professor Joe Rachlin fished for carp in the Bronx River with his friends, then ran to a nearby fish market where he sold them for 25 cents apiece. He believes fishing taught him to love the river and the creatures that live in it, and he wants you to go fishing, too – after snipping the barb off your hook so you can easily remove it from the fish’s mouth and return it to its home. In 2006, the idea is to enjoy being outdoors and fishing, but to conserve, rather than serve up, the fish.
On Nov. 18, Professor Rachlin, who nowadays teaches at Lehman College, gave a workshop on fish in the river as part of the Bronx River Art Center fall program. He explained to the children and adults present how to identify fish by the number and shape of their fins and talked about the importance of the river, which contains both fresh and saltwater fish. Since the lower part is a tidal estuary, it is a nursery for many fish that live in the ocean but come here to lay their eggs for a new generation. Just think: Considering recent reports that the oceans will be fished out in coming decades if present rates continue, keeping our Bronx River nursery healthy could help to restore the health of the entire western Atlantic coastal zone!
Professor Rachlin provided a key for identifying around 20 fish that can be found in the river and about 30 invertebrates like the scuds and mollusks that children collected in their nets at last month’s workshop on creatures that live in the river. He mentioned that the American eel, a fish that was also captured last month, has a history unlike most other fish that spend time in the ocean. It spawns in the Atlantic, in the Sargasso Sea, and the newborn young migrate back to coastal river systems, including the Bronx River, to grow up. It arrives as a small, transparent glass eel, grows into a brownish elver, then lives happily in the river for 12 years before returning to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.
Right now, after many years of work by Bronx River restoration groups, the river is pretty healthy and stable, he said. The Clean Water Act of the 1970s made a big difference, and people don’t dump so much junk into it any more, although some garbage, especially soda bottles, finds its way there. Automobile oil washed off the streets is also a problem, along with raw sewage washed into it after a heavy rain.
Nevertheless, a study Professor Rachlin has been conducting comparing surveys of fish that were found in the river as far back as 1936 with fish found there today shows that only two species are missing.
A student in a Bronx River Art Center class on documentary-making, 13-year-old Adam Rodriguez, interviewed Professor Rachlin after his presentation. You can see part of the interview by clicking on YouTube above.