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Community Corner

See what we found in the Navesink

Middletown, NJ -

On Thursday, October 3rd , a seine net was pulled through the Navesink waters to assess the biodiversity.  The volunteers caught Atlantic Silversides, Bay Anchovies, Mummichogs, Bluefish, Young of the Year Menhaden, Oyster Toadfish, Northern Kingfish, Spot Croaker, Striped Killifish, and a big Blue Clawed Crab.

This new professional grade seine net has previously been used on the Shark River  by a crew of volunteers from Middletown and surrounding towns. In the past few weeks, volunteers with the American Littoral Society and Viridian Energy seined three locations - L Street Beach in Belmar, Memorial Park in Neptune City, and the Middletown Side of Oceanic Bridge to assess the biodiversity in both the Shark and Navesink Rivers.  Viridian Energy provided a $500 grant to purchase this 50 foot net with a pocket in the center to catch any fast swimming fish during the biodiversity assessment. Viridian Energy is a third party energy supplier providing affordable green energy to their customers with a company vision of sustainability in both local and global community.

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The volunteers came out each time seine net caught different species of fish or crabs to delight their curiosity.  The American Littoral Society recorded the species for  baseline data for their Spill Spotters program.  This program led by Stevie Thornson trained volunteers to count the birds, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, worms and other creatures living in and around coastal waters. This information will record the normal background conditions and will help them detect problems in the future   Yesterday was their last event of the season.  They plan to resume their citizen science assessments in the spring. For more information American Littoral Society at  732-291-0055 contact them after March of 2014. Or Find me on Facebook - Kathleen Devine

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