The Friends
are proud to announce that we have secured the following capacity
building grants that will greatly help us in strengthening our
organization for the benefit of Connetquot River State Park Preserve:
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FOC Newsletter, Chairman’s Letter, Spring 2007
We are experiencing a full blown Nor’easter today
with 40 mile an hour winds and three inches
of rain. I drove up to the Veterans Highway overpass
and once again the road runoff is flowing directly
into the river. On the bright side, we did receive
letters from the New York Governor’s office and the
Department of Transportation saying that they would
investigate further.
The biggest news at the Preserve relates to the
presence of Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN),
a highly contagious viral disease of young fish of
the salmonid species. The disease, most
characteristically,
occurs in rainbow trout, brook trout, brown trout,
and Atlantic and Pacific salmon. If you will pardon
the science lesson, the disease is transmitted via
feces, sexual fluids and urine. Transport water that
is
infected, as well as contaminated nets, containers,
and other equipment are often to blame, although the
virus can be transported and excreted by fish-eating
birds and mammals. The disease has a wide
geographical distribution; it occurs in most, if not
all, major salmon farming countries of North and
South
America, Europe, and Asia. It mostly occurs under
intensive rearing conditions in hatcheries or in
post-smolt Atlantic salmon in sea-cages.
Susceptibility decreases with increasing age; fry or
fingerlings
reach complete resistance to clinical disease in
about four months. The first sign of an outbreak in
salmonid
fry is usually a sudden and progressive increase in
daily mortalities in the hatchery, particularly in
the
faster-growing individuals. Other evidence includes
a corkscrewing, spiral, or whirling swimming motion;
darkening pigmentation; pronounced distended abdomen
and pale gills. Hemorrhages are sometimes
present in ventral areas, including ventral fins.
The remedies include destruction of the infected
fish or
strict isolation of the outbreak by controlling fish
movement and human traffic. Other measures include
reduction of the population density, thorough
cleaning and disinfection of hatchery, and proper
carcass disposal (incineration or lime pit). All these steps
will be employed by the DEC and the Preserve staff.
For a more thorough review please look at
www.spaquaculture.com, the source of the above
information.
We are anxiously awaiting receipt of the next
generation of plans for the restoration of the Mill
and will be meeting with an acclaimed preservation
architect on the restoration and conversion of the
ice house into a library and document storage center.
Spring is in the air, so visit the Preserve: go
fishing, ride a horse, go for a jog, enjoy the bird life,
witness the spring growth on the trees. We are so
very fortunate to have this amazing resource at our
doorstep.
Sincerely,
Richard Remmer
