BRD Activities in Massachusetts

• In partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the BRD is using the Westfield River as an experimental site to assess Atlantic salmon restoration techniques, including technologies to help fish negotiate obstructions to migration. This information is critical to industries such as Alden Hydraulic Laboratories, which can use it to develop water projects that are compatible with restoration efforts. To date, the second major natural spawning return of Atlantic salmon has occurred in the Westfield River as a result of these combined efforts.

• Working with partners, the BRD is assembling information from various sources to identify critical problems in the Connecticut River basin and to help develop consensus in resource management. Partners include other Federal agencies, the State of Massachusetts, the Connecticut River Watershed Council, and The Nature Conservancy.

• The Connecticut River basin supports diverse resources, including Atlantic salmon, American shad, sturgeon, bald eagles, waterfowl, and other wildlife. Increasing pressures on the habitat have contributed to population declines in many of these species, including some with high economic value. As one of a series of BRD regional science initiatives, the Connecticut River Initiative demonstrates the merit of bringing together biological data from a variety of sources to support public and private decision making.

• Previous studies have documented extensive mercury contamination at the Nyanza site on the Sudbury River. The mercury is potentially available to predatory fish and fish-eating wildlife from the water, sediment, invertebrates, and fish. A study of the extent of mercury contamination in the Sudbury River, which runs through the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, is being conducted in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers so that potential remedial actions may be recommended.

• The BRD is determining the level of mercury contamination in sediments, invertebrates, and fish in freshwater ponds in Cape Cod National Seashore. Atmospheric deposition has resulted in increased concentrations of toxic metals in otherwise pristine ponds.

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biology.usgs.gov/state.partners/activities/ma-act.html
Last Updated: Wednesday, 09-Apr-2003 07:22:52 MDT
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