They hadn't traveled this particular channel in more than 300 years, though local residents are used to seeing their kind on supermarket shelves. After an historic ceremony on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo on March 21, alewife herring are back home-and alive-where they belong.

The adjustment appeared easy for the 201 herring released into the Bronx River, the only remaining free-flowing river within New York City's borders. After a brief churning of the muddy river bottom, the water's surface calmed to reveal groups of the lean, silvery fish heading downstream along the banks.

The herring release is part of a unique partnership to restore the Bronx River. It is also a testament to the efforts of the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation's Natural Resource Group, Lehman College, Bronx River Alliance, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection to transform a long-neglected waterway. The river is now clean enough to provide a suitable habitat for wild fish, and experts hope that the release will soon invite the return of other native regional wildlife that depend on this prey species, such as osprey and herons, as well as game fish like striped bass and bluefish.

The project was funded by a federal partnership grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), secured by Congressman Jose E. Serrano. In 2001, NOAA awarded an initial grant to WCS to help restore estuary and river fishery habitats in the lower Bronx River. Congressman Serrano had the honor of lowering the first batch of juvenile herring into the water. "Today's release will multiply into a number of more and speed the return of a natural river. It is a real environmental victory for the Bronx," he said.

Alewife herring vanished from the Bronx River as early as the 1600s, when dams built for flourmills blocked access to the fishes' spawning grounds. Like salmon, river herring hatch in freshwater and swim out to sea, returning as adults to spawn. The instinct to return to their birthplace is learned, not genetic. Experts expect that the fish that started their New York minutes on the shores of the Bronx Zoo will remember their roots.

A 2004 feasibility study with oversight by Lehman College and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation's Natural Resource Group determined that fish passageways would need to be constructed around three dams to allow the fish to reach their spawning grounds. Funding has still not been secured for construction, but officials are optimistic that the passageways will be completed in time for these Bronx pioneers to make their way home.



Posted by: Kelly    Source