The sun just touches the tops of the trees as Douglas Carlson backs his 14-foot aluminum fishing boat into the Oswegatchie river. The oar locks creak as he paddles upriver through the cold morning water. He is on his way to retrieve the gill nets he set out last night.
In the evening, Carlson sets out gill nets and, in the morning, he picks them back up. He is fishing for the rare mooneye, an endangered in New York.
A retired biologist from the Department of Environmental Conservation, Carlson is helping in a study to collect data on mooneye fish. The study is a collaboration with SUNY Potsdam, the Department of Environmental Conservation and Clackson University’s graduate program.
Mooneye fish, part of a family that has been abundant for 60 million years, are declining across New York. “It’s perplexing why it’s declining,” said Tom Langen, professor of biology at Clarkson University. “We would like to know what it is about the environment that’s causing these fish to decline.” This decline can be used as an indicator of what may be stressing other fish populations as well.
Fisherman can be a great resource to expand the grasp of the research. “We’re trying to use reports from people who encounter these fish to help create kind of a citizen science database,” explained Langen. This will help show if mooneye are found other places or confirm that fisherman find them in the same places as researchers.
With rare fish the first challenge is to catch them, and then the focus is on how to conserve them. “Businesses were sloppy years back,” says Carlson. “They would have a bad batch of cheese and they would dump it in the river, it steals the oxygen from the fish and then they’re dead.” The DEC is responsible for keeping track of dead fish and holding those responsible accountable.
Mooneye are overlooked for research and conservation efforts. “There’s only about 12 good pieces of science about mooneye,” noted Carlson. “Compare that to small mouth bass or other popular sport fish there’s all kinds of literature.” There is a lot more funding for research on sport fish but other kinds of fish are just as integral to the ecosystem.
“Public awareness is a powerful thing that’s needed for people to understand threatened species,” says Carlson. The hope is for companies to be more thoughtful in their industrial processes and in their consideration for dams.
This is the last year of the study because the graduate program at Clarkson is coming to an end. Even though not all the questions were answered, the study was still a success. “Environmental consensus might be the greatest benefit of a study like this,” says Carlson. “It gets people interested in the river, they’re more respectful of the river, and they pass it on to the next generation.