NYSDEC: Get Involved and Become a Citizen Scientist

DEC offers a variety of opportunities to participate in marine science research and conservation efforts. Participating in citizen science programs offers hands-on experiences in data collection and research methods, while also providing valuable data to scientists to make informed decisions to better conserve important local marine species.

If you're fishing or diving on one of New York's artificial reefs, submit a digital survey of your observations. All the information you provide is important supplemental reef monitoring data and helps NYSDEC effectively manage and enhance our artificial reefs.

Report sightings of live or dead sturgeon to help us better understand the occurrence of Atlantic Sturgeon in New York's waters. Report sturgeon in the Hudson River to 845-256-3073 and in marine waters to 631-444-0444, or by emailing us.

Submit your observations of sharks in the wild to help biologists record their presence in New York State waters and further understand local shark ecology and behavior. If you are fishing, boating, or enjoying the beach and observe a shark, please report your sighting using the DEC Shark Spotter digital survey.

By joining the Striped Bass Cooperative Anglers Program (SBCA), you can take part in an effort to help manage and maintain a healthy striped bass population. Volunteer anglers will record fishing trip information and take scale samples from striped bass to be submitted to DEC. At the end of the season, the data is used to determine the fishing effort and helps to assess the striped bass population in the region. 

For more exciting citizen science opportunities, visit Wildlife Monitoring Network Long Island, a one-stop-shop for wildlife monitoring surveys that are conducted for species found throughout Long Island.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will host a series of four workshops (three webinars and one in-person) to explore the possible redevelopment of the Research Set-Aside (RSA) program. The Mid-Atlantic Council’s RSA program was established in 2001 as a mechanism to generate funds for fisheries research through the sale of a portion of each species’ total allowable landings. In 2014, the Council voted to suspend the RSA program in response to enforcement violations and other concerns with the program.

Find more information here.

The SAFMC approved proposed management measures affecting fisheries for Dolphin and Wahoo in federal waters along the Atlantic coast during its meeting last week. Measures include modifying the recreational vessel trip limit for Dolphin from 60 fish to 54 fish per vessel per trip while maintaining the 10 fish per person daily bag limit. The measures are being proposed through Amendment 10 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce, the new measures could be implemented in 2022.

Find more information here.

Today, Janet Coit was appointed to lead NOAA Fisheries, which is responsible for managing our nation’s marine fisheries and conserving protected marine species, as the assistant administrator under the Biden-Harris Administration. Coit will also serve as acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator, for which she will support and manage NOAA's coastal and marine programs.

Find more information here.

NOAA Fisheries: Fishing Memories – Meet Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, so fishing was all around me as a kid. My earliest fishing memory was entering a fishing contest when I was probably 6 years old. We fished in this little pond in Manasquan, New Jersey, and I won the contest for my age group. (Probably because I was the only kid who actually caught a fish.) After we moved from Manasquan over to Point Pleasant, I spent a lot of time fishing at the Manasquan Inlet. My friends and I would ride our bikes to fish at the Point Pleasant Canal. With just a simple spoon, we could do pretty well fishing for bluefish, which I would bring home and my mom would grill up with tomatoes, lemon, and bacon. I also had a few crab traps and we’d ride our bikes down to the river beach, hop a fence, and catch a few blue crabs to bring home for dinner.

Find more information here.

Last month NOAA scientists Drs. Andrea Kroetz and John Carlson returned to Everglades National Park and Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge. They resumed sampling for endangered smalltooth sawfish in their critical habitat area. NOAA scientists have been monitoring the relative abundance, distribution, and habitat use of juvenile smalltooth sawfish there since 2009. Critical habitat is a habitat area essential to the conservation of a listed species.

Find more information here.

The Big Tuna Sandwich Mystery: A lawsuit against America’s largest sandwich chain has raised questions about America’s most popular canned fish. We tried to answer one: Is Subway selling tuna (The New York Times)?

10 New Books About Wildlife and Our Relationship With Animals (The Revelator).

A Life at Sea: A Q&A with Robert Ballard: A new memoir from the famed explorer dives into his underwater discoveries, his life with dyslexia, and the importance of communicating with the public (EOS).

A fish story: When the pandemic closed this Maryland school, he saved the trout (The Washington Post).

Scientists convert used plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring: Production of chemical could help make recycling more attractive and tackle global plastic pollution (The Guardian).

The Controversial History of Shark Week (The Spinnaker).

How oysters and seagrass could help the California coast adapt to rising seas: Seawalls can make erosion worse. This California scientist is looking for another solution (Grist).

Two Arctic Fish Are Breaking the Rules of Genetics (The Atlantic).

COVID-19 Lockdowns Show a World Without Parachute Science: With international scientists barred from traveling, local scientists in the Pacific islands are taking the chance to lead (Hakai Magazine).

Hakai Magazine just wrapped up their five part podcast The Sound Aquatic with an episode titled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close about the sounds of the anthropause.