The DEC Wants You, To Help Count American Eels | On The Water

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Scientists are once again tracking the migration of eels as they swim upstream and they could use your help.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos just announced the start of the state’s 17th year of annual research on migrating juvenile American eels (Anguilla rostrata). The research project takes place all along the Hudson River Estuary with dozens of volunteers helping out, including teachers, students, and residents who venture into tributary streams to participate.

"New York’s Hudson River Estuary provides habitat that is critical to the life cycle of many important migratory fish species," Seggos explained. "Each year, the Hudson River Eel Project connects students and local residents with nature, serving as environmental stewards gathering valuable data for DEC’s future study of this species and its role in our ecosystem."

The project was initiated by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve to gather data for multi-state management plans for eel conservation. Eel collection takes place at most sites daily from mid-March through mid-May. Since the project began, volunteers have caught, counted, and released more than one million juvenile eels into upstream habitat.

This spring, students, local volunteers, DEC staff, and partner organizations will monitor glass eels at 11 sites on the Hudson River from New York Harbor to the Capital Region.

American eels have one of the most unusual life cycles of any fish. The eels are hatched in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean and arrive every spring in estuaries like the Hudson River as translucent, two-inch long "glass eels." The DEC and volunteers use 10-foot, cone-shaped nets (fyke nets) specifically designed to catch these small eels during this life stage. Volunteer and student researchers then count and release the glass eels back into the water and record environmental data on temperature and tides. Most of the eels are released above dams, waterfalls, and other barriers so that the eels have better access to habitat. Eels will live in freshwater rivers and streams for up to 30 years before returning to the sea to spawn.

Coastal states from Florida to Maine monitor the young-of-the-year migrations of American eels, using Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission protocols. Hudson River Eel Project participants are trained in these field collection protocols to ensure useful data is collected.

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Those interested in volunteering for the eel project can send an email to this address and should include their resident location to find a nearby site. Find more information on the eel project website and watch the eel project video on DEC’s YouTube channel.