News from New York State Department of Transportation

For more information contact: Eileen Peters, 631-952-6632

State DOT, DEC Announce Installation of Fish Ladder on Carmans River

Eco-system Restoration Will Help Rebuild Long Island’s Native Fish Population

ALBANY, NY (02/20/2008; 1319)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Astrid C. Glynn and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today unveiled a project to install a specially-designed fish ladder on the Carmans River near State Route 27, Sunrise Highway, in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County.

The $200,000 initiative will allow native fish to move upstream beyond a previously impassable barrier to spawn in Hards Lake in Southhaven County Park. Undertaken in partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Suffolk County, and the Art Flick Chapter of Trout Unlimited, this groundbreaking project will create the first permanent fish passage installed on Long Island.

“This environmental project improves the balance between our transportation system and the natural surroundings and will help preserve our natural resources for the benefit of generations to come,” NYSDOT Commissioner Glynn said. “Under the leadership of Governor Eliot Spitzer, I am pleased we have the opportunity to partner with many organizations in this initiative and to achieve broader public objectives beyond our traditional transportation goals.”

DEC Commissioner Grannis said, “This project is critical to sustaining brook trout and the food chain they depend on in the Carmans River. It’s gratifying that so many agencies and organizations recognized the need and worked together on a solution.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said, “The development of our infrastructure over the last half a century has had the unintended consequence of separating fish from their spawning grounds. This project will help bring back once-vibrant fish populations into Suffolk County waterways, something that all levels of government are working to do.”

Art Flick Trout Unlimited President George Costa said, “The membership of the Art Flick Chapter of Trout Unlimited take great pride in our involvement with this important turning point in the restoration of the Carmans River. The Carmans has a rich and well-documented history regarding the native fish that once were able to freely navigate its entire length. It is a remarkable testament to the tenacity of these species that they still exist within and return to the Carmans each year. This fish passage will be the first link in connecting the most important section of this jewel and it will indeed be a memorable day when this chapter records the first confirmed sighting of a Brook Trout navigating through this fish passage.”

Once installed by NYSDOT at the Hards Lake Dam Spillway on the Carmans River, the fish ladder will again connect two isolated parts of this important South Shore Estuary Reserve ecosystem by providing a passageway for fish, such as brook trout and alewives. Their ability to utilize their entire natural habitat is currently obstructed by the Hards Lake Dam. Anadromous alewife and sea-run or “salter” brook trout, which migrate between fresh and salt water, will now have access to spawning areas above Hards Lake and thereby increase in numbers.

The Carmans River watershed area is 24 square miles, and the river flows between Middle Island in the north and empties into Bellport Bay in the south. The Carmans River has a rich history of trout fishing, based on its sea-run brook trout, and it currently holds the largest remaining population of native brook trout on Long Island. Alewives are an important food fish, bait fish and a favorite of striped bass. Anadromous runs of alewife have been declining throughout the Atlantic coast largely due to construction of barriers on historic spawning tributaries. Improving the Carmans River fish populations will help sustain New York’s native fauna, enhance recreational fishing opportunities, as well as provide economic benefits to fishing-related commerce.

The Carmans River fish ladder project reflects a NYSDOT initiative to utilize its resources consciously and proactively to move beyond traditional transportation project objectives to encompass protecting, enhancing, and restoring the environment. Partial funding for the project was provided by the FishAmerica Foundation and NOAA Restoration Center through a $42,000 grant for community-based habitat restoration projects. The remaining $158,000 was provided by NYSDOT’s environmental initiative funding. The fish ladder is supported by numerous organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the South Shore Estuary Reserve and the Art Flick Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The fish ladder was designed by NYSDOT Region 10 staff located on Long Island and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Installation is being performed under a NYSDOT contract in accordance with DEC regulations. Construction of this significant ecological enhancement should be completed within two months, weather permitting, and will involve de-watering a portion of the downstream salt water channel for approximately two weeks. As part of the project, it is anticipated that a camera will be installed to observe fish use of the ladder as they migrate upstream to spawning areas.

###