[Original pamphlet published by: Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, No date, 13 pp. Reformatted for Web.]
TABLE OF CONTENTSTHE HUDSON'S WATER: CAN I SWIM IN IT? EAT ITS FISH?
THE CHEMISTRY OF BOATING
MARINE SANITATION
THE FRAGILE AND VULNERABLE ECOSYSTEM
A LISTING OF MARINAS AND LAUNCH SITES ON THE ESTUARY
ZEBRA MUSSEL ALERT
THE HUDSON RIVER NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE
Ever since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 the Hudson's water quality has been improving. Anyone who boated on the river during the 1960's knows how much water quality has improved since then.
Most of the Hudson is swimmable. From the New York / New Jersey state line, north to the No. 72 light at river mile 137 just south of Castleton, the Hudson is rated clean enough to swim in. Some locations do have treacherous bottom conditions and currents, and these should be avoided. Sewage treatment plants also create unsafe swimming conditions at specific locations.
From the No. 72 light north to the Federal Dam at Troy, and from the state line south to the river's mouth at Battery Park, the river is rated only for secondary contact recreation - fishing and boating. The fact that you can fish anywhere in the river doesn't mean you should eat your catch.
Toxic contaminants have built up in river sediments and have moved throughout the food chain. In response to this contamination of the river's life, New York State issues health advisories on the consumption of certain fish species taken anywhere from the Hudson Estuary.
The NYS Health Department advises that no infants, children under fifteen or women of childbearing age eat any fish from the tidal Hudson. They also recommend that no one eat the following species: American eel, white perch, carp, goldfish, brown bullhead, white catfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, pumpkinseed sunfish and walleye.
You should not eat more than one meal a month of these species: black crappie, rainbow smelt, Atlantic needlefish, bluefish, tiger muskellunge, and northern pike.
Advisories on the consumption of blue crabs from the Hudson are not quite as restrictive. The Health Department recommends that no one should eat more than 6 crabs per week, that the cooking fluid be discarded and that the crabs' mustard or tomalley, where contaminants such as cadmium concentrate, not be eaten.
If you would like to receive a copy of the complete health advisories for all sportfish and game in the state, call the Health Department at 1-800-458-1158.
Anti-foulants are widely used on boats in marine or brackish waters to keep hulls free of barnacles and other organisms. Fouling by marine organisms is not a problem in the Hudson's waters north of Verplank or on trailered boats that are frequently hauled.
Until recently, TBT (Tri-butyl tin) paints were the common choice for bottompainting boats kept in marine and brackish waters. These anti-foulants worked well: TBT is a pesticide extremely toxic to aquatic life; one ounce can kill most organisms in 250 million gallons of water. Because water monitoring showed the compound had reached dangerously high levels around marinas, New York passed a regulation restricting the sale of TBT paints to 16-ounce spray cans and its use to aluminum hulls and fittings. TBT causes growth and reproductive abnormalities in snails, oysters and mussels. New regulations in the future will further clarify restrictions on TBT use.
ALTERNATIVES TO TBT: Copper-based paints are recommended but cannot be used on aluminum parts and hulls. When applied according to the directions, these paints should prove more economical to use and are not as toxic to the river. Apply these paints only where they are needed--below the water line. Better yet--scrub the hull with water and a brush.
Cleaners, bleaches, paints, varnishes and thinners should be considered toxic and handled as such.
- Use detergents and 'elbow grease' instead of toxic teak, deck and hull cleaners. Minimize the use of detergents when your boat is in the water. - When scraping or sanding your boat, use drop clothes to catch the paint chips and dust. Place the wastes in the trash. Don't allow them to wash into the Hudson during the next rainfall. - Keep all paints, thinners or cleaners away from the water and dispose of them properly.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Coast Guard
regulations prohibit the discharge of any oil or oily waste that
causes a visible sheen on the water. Such discharges are toxic
to aquatic life.
- Keep your boat tuned up to reduce oily exhaust. Be careful when changing the oil in your boat's engine. - Inspect rubber fuel lines regularly and replace dry and cracked lines with alcohol resistant "USCG type A" lines. - Use a bilge "pillow" to absorb spilled oil and gas. - Avoid fuel spills from overflow vents by checking fuel levels by eye or with a dip stick before refueling. - Remember: fuel expands when warmed; do not overfill tanks.
Federal regulations prohibit the discharge of raw sewage into coastal or navigable waters. Raw sewage is offensive to all users of the river, and disease-causing pathogens that sewage may contain can pose a threat to shellfish and swimmers.
EPA and Coast Guard regulations require that vessels with permanently installed heads (usually boats 25 feet in length or longer) be equipped with marine sanitation devices (MSDs). Such MSD's are available in three types:
Type I and Type II MSD's are through-flushing systems that use mechanical, chemical electrical or incineration methods in the treatment process. These units discharge treated sewage into the water.
Type III MSD's are holding tanks for untreated sewage to be disposed of on shore. These are by far the preferred system since they have no impact on aquatic life if properly used. These holding tanks should be emptied at pump-out facilities at marinas; their contents are then treated on land.
IF YOU HAVE A TYPE III DEVICE ONBOARD:
- Use pump-out stations. - Learn the locations of pump-out facilities along your routes of travel. Most boating guides now include this information, and it is listed at the end of this guide. - Encourage the installation of more pump-out facilities along the river by using available ones and requesting the service at marinas and public docks. - Never pass up a chance to use on-shore bathroom facilities.
IF YOU HAVE A TYPE I OR TYPE II DEVICE ONBOARD:
- NEVER discharge your system in marinas, crowded anchorages or bathing areas. - ALWAYS discharge the system in deep, open water at least 1500 feet from shore. This will allow currents and tidal action to disperse the wastes quickly and thoroughly. - NEVER pass up a chance to use on-shore bathroom facilities.
Smaller craft (under 25 feet) not required to have MSD's should carry port-a-johns. THESE SHOULD NOT BE EMPTIED OVERBOARD. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW. Don't pass up a chance to use on-shore bathrooms. This is where port-a-johns should be emptied.
Make sure there is a receptacle on your boat for trash. Make it clear to all passengers that no garbage goes overboard. Boats 26 feet or longer are required to have a plaque describing the Federal regulations regarding the disposal of trash at sea.
Disposal of floatable garbage, especially plastics, is a great concern; such trash is a serious threat to aquatic animals. An estimated 100,000 marine animals die each year in the Unites States by eating or becoming entangled with plastic debris. Although plastic is not toxic, once ingested by sea birds or turtles the undigestible plastic interferes with feeding and digestion, and leads to death by starvation. Entanglement in discarded fishing lines, nets, or 6-pack rings often leads to death by drowning. Even small items such as tin cans and pull-tabs can be a hazard to both fish and people.
The Hudson River Estuary is a long, navigable arm of the Atlantic Ocean that reaches 150 miles upriver to Troy. In the lower estuary, the Atlantic's saltwater meets and mixes with the Hudson's freshwater. The upper estuary north of Newburgh Bay is freshwater, but its waters still rise and fall twice a day with the oceanic tides as far north as Troy.
Estuaries and tidal wetlands are highly productive ecosystems. It's estimated that 80% of the fish and shellfish caught along the U.S. coastline use estuaries and tidal wetlands as spawning, nursery and feeding grounds.
Life of all kinds is found throughout the Hudson Estuary: in tidal marshes, sand and mud flats, river shallows, and in deep, open waters. These aquatic habitats are closely linked, and each plays an important role in the Hudson ecosystem. The health of the tidal Hudson depends on maintaining both these habitats and good water quality throughout the estuary.
Marshes are found up and down the tidal Hudson. Brackish marshes with salt-tolerant plant and animal communities occur in the lower estuary, while freshwater tidal marshes are found north of Newburgh Bay. Cattails, grasses, and several species of broadleaf plants are the emergent species that grow in this zone between high and low tide.
Tidal marshes are vulnerable and fragile - and of tremendous importance to the estuary. They provide habitats for fish and wildlife--snapping turtles, muskrats, great blue herons and many species of fish. The plants produced in them are also an important source of fuel for life in the Hudson. The energy in sunlight is captured by the marsh plants then either consumed directly or gradually recycled into the aquatic food chain as detritus - dead plant material slowly washed into the river by the tides.
- Treat these areas as no-wake zones. Erosion of these marshes is a threat to them and the river's productivity. - Don't travel through vegetated areas during high water. Prop action causes serious damage to these plants and the animals that depend on them. - Don't land in vegetated areas or walk through these marshes. Such behavior promotes erosion and destruction of these fragile habitats.
To the casual eye, the mud and sand flats exposed at low tide seem devoid of plant and animal life. But although rooted plants are not usually found here, microscopic plants such as algae abound on the surface and in the first inch of sediments. These flats also support a wealth of animals, most of which are not readily visible even at low tide. Mussels feed by filtering microscopic plants and bits of detritus suspended in the water. Free-moving worms, snails and shrimp roam the surface of the flats. Other worms and invertebrates - small, non-bony animals - live in the sand and mud and find protein-rich bacteria there.
- Avoid running aground on these flats. It promotes erosion and seriously disturbs the plants and animals found here.
Larval and juvenile fish use these shallows as nursery areas. Here they find refuge from predators and plentiful food at this most vulnerable stage in their lives. Snails climb the underwater vegetation and use their rasp-like mouths to scrape algae from the leaves. Insects abound, providing a ready source of food for anything that can eat them. When the growing season ends these submerged plants die back, soon to be decomposed and recycled for use by future generations of plants and animals.
- Don't travel through these vegetated areas. Propellers uproot plants, destroying this habitat vital to the Hudson's fish.
- Treat these areas as no-wake zones.
Deep water lies beyond the shallows. This habitat includes by far the greatest amount of river bottom and water area in the Hudson. Except for the meadows of microscopic plants floating at the surface, deep, open water is the kingdom of animals.
Worms are the most abundant creatures living in the bottom sediments, accompanied by a few species of mollusks. Snails, crabs and other invertebrates also roam the river bottom.
Fish dominate this unseen world. Over 200 species have been found in the Hudson Estuary. Many, including the American shad, are born here in the Hudson as well as in other East Coast estuaries, spend most of their lives in the Atlantic, then return to the rivers of their birth for brief periods to spawn. Another species, the American eel, lives a different kind of life. They are born in the Atlantic, live most of their lives in East Coast river systems such as the Hudson, then return to the ocean to spawn. Still others, such as sunfish, bass and perch, spend their entire lives in estuaries.
- Be a responsible boater; follow the guidelines in this booklet!
- With every act, both on water and on land, promote and maintain good water quality.
- Set an example for your family and your friends.
Forests and fields along the river's shoreline serve the Hudson's wetlands and open waters in important ways. They provide animals with corridors to the river, minimize human disturbances to aquatic wildlife habitats, and buffer these sensitive areas from the land-based activities of humans.
Sediments, toxins and nutrients wash into the Hudson from everywhere within the river's 13,390 square mile watershed and all are capable of damaging the river ecosystem. Vegetated shorelines, upland fields and forests filter runoff and reduce erosion, thereby helping to maintain the river's water quality and clarity.
- Avoid landing on or trampling vegetated areas.
- Promote the use of best management practices in your community.
- Support the protection of natural corridors along the Hudson and its tributary waterways.
This listing includes marinas open to the public and private yacht clubs with limited facilities for boats in transit.
R: Ramp available
PO: Pump-out facilities available
RM: River mile location
(Battery Park RM 0)
F: Fee
PR: Permit Required
The zebra mussel--a native of Europe that has only recently appeared in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and the Erie Canal--is expected to invade the Hudson estuary by 1992. Concern exists about the mussel's high reproductive rate, its tendency to colonize and clog water intakes of both power plants and recreational boats, and its unknown ecological effects on the estuary.
Zebra mussels occur in two stages--as free-floating larvae (juvenile stage) and as adults attached to firm surfaces. The mussel can be easily transported between river systems in either form. Recreational boaters have an important role to play in preventing the spread of the mussel to uninfested waters.
- Take extra care not to transport water from lakes and rivers contaminated with zebra mussels in your boat or baitfish bucket. This water could contain the microscopic, free-floating larva of the species. It is believed that transport of the larval mussel in ballast water was responsible for the species' arrival in North America from Europe. - Remove any plant debris from your boat and trailer and check the hull and trailer for attached mussels. This is especially important if you boat in an area known to be contaminated with the mussel and trailer your boat to other water bodies where the mussel has not yet appeared. Run your hand over the hull. If it feels grainy it might have zebra mussels attached to it. They are striped and grow no longer than 1.5 inches. - Scrape attached zebra mussels off, being careful not to damage the gelcoat on fiberglass hulls. On wood, aluminum and steel hulls, the first layer of paint will probably be removed also. Repaint if necessary. The mussels can also be dislodged with a high-pressure spray. - Keep an eye on your temperature gauge if you boat in mussel-infested waters. The mussels can invade intake pipes and clog the cooling system of your boat's engine. The mussels will be almost impossible to remove. The best alternative is to replace the pipes.
The Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) is a network of four tidal wetlands on the Hudson Estuary. The Hudson River NERR is managed by the NYS Department of Envirorunental Conservation. It includes over 4,000 acres of tidal marshes and vegetated shallows, sand and mud flats, open water and uplands at four sites in Rockland, Dutchess and Columbia counties.
The Reserve is part of a national system of estuarine research reserves throughout the coastal United States and in Puerto Rico. The NERR system was established by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to secure long term protection for select tidal wetlands and to manage them as research laboratories and outdoor classrooms. Research and education at these sites foster better management of these and similar coastal habitats.
For more information on recreational boating, the Hudson Estuary and its tidal wetlands, or the Hudson River NERR and its research and education opportunities, please contact:
Text by Dennis Mildner and Betsy Blair Illustrations, layout
and design by Gary Allen
Web Version: Mark James Morreale (text); Dr. Jan Mainzer (images)
The authors thank the many people who assisted with this project, the Heritage Task Force for the Hudson Valley, and the Hudson River Foundation, which made the project possible through its financial support.