Save the Sound Dispatch

By Javier Roman-Nieves, ecological communications specialist At the time of this writing, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the world’s leading authority on climate science—had just issued its latest report on our ongoing climate catastrophe. More than eight years in the making and based on the peer-reviewed work of hundreds of researchers around the world, the report’s findings are the direst yet. The 2015 Paris Agreement goal of stopping temperatures from rising more than 1.5° C, or between…

Data is the key to understanding how we are doing at protecting our coastal waters. Thanks to the ongoing weekly water quality monitoring at our beaches, Save the Sound can review a deep dataset and build an understanding of water conditions and pollution sources and drivers. The biggest take-away from our beach data analysis is always how hyper local water pollution impacts are. The mapped grades show how beaches with “A” water quality can be situated within…

By Bill Lucey, Long Island Soundkeeper at Save the Sound and member of the Long Island Sound Blue Plan Advisory Council It happened at 12:21a.m. May 14, 2021. After twenty years of discussing the need for a plan that provides data and pathways to protect Long Island Sound from haphazard development while supporting recreation, aquaculture, shipping, and other uses, the Long Island Sound Blue Plan unanimously passed both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly. But before that…

By Martin Hain, Communications Specialist, Save the Sound We are so fortunate that Long Island Sound is encircled by hundreds of beautiful beaches. Millions of people visit many of these beaches each year, supporting our coastal economies and forging personal bonds with the Sound estuary. However, the sad reality is that a lot of these beaches—including many of the best—are fenced off and inaccessible because they have become privately owned. Many others are restricted to local residents…

A joint dispatch from the UConn Schultz Fish Lab and Save the Sound   The term “river herring” is commonly used to refer to two species: alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis). Unassuming in nature, these fish are best known for their difficult yearly spring migration from saltwater to freshwater spawning grounds, a type of migration made by only 1% of all fish species. There, the females lay around 100,000 eggs each. Once hatched, juveniles…

Restoring Fish Passage on the Naugatuck River By Karina Krul, Save the Sound Member Communications Specialist   Despite millions of dollars invested in restoration efforts, the Naugatuck River in western Connecticut remains mostly inaccessible to downstream native and migratory fish species. The Kinneytown Dam, as the first geographic barrier to migratory fish along the river, is negating several large-scale habitat improvement efforts made upstream, including a $6.3M investment in a bypass in Seymour, and rendering 32 miles…

  The Connecticut River runs through the heart of the state, representing over 70% of the freshwater that reaches Long Island Sound. On its 410-mile journey from the Canadian border to the Sound, the Connecticut River ferries boaters, migratory fish, sediments, nutrients—and several tons of trash—through a diverse array of communities. Across Connecticut, streams and rivers flow through and beneath our cities and towns. Water is everywhere—and so is trash. Cigarette butts flicked out of car windows…

Plum Island Off the Auction Block By Chris Cryder, Save the Sound Land Campaign Manager Sailors who cruise around Plum Island, New York, fisherfolk who ply Plum Gut and enjoy the island’s wild beauty, and history buffs who admire its handsome buildings can all take now take a deep breath of relief—the island has been taken off the auction block! The federal fiscal year 2021 budget package, passed and signed in December, includes language repealing 2009 and…

For the First Time, Grades for LI Sound’s Bays and Harbors By Martin Hain, Save the Sound communications specialist We often think of Long Island Sound as one body of water, with common ecological features, cultural experiences, and environmental challenges. That’s true, to a point—however, because it is such a large body of water with lots of nooks and crannies, the many different parts of the Sound often experience very different water quality conditions. That’s why Save…

By Chris Cryder, Land Campaign Manager, Save the Sound Nearly three years ago, members of the Preserve Plum Island Coalition traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for conservation of Plum Island, NY. The federally-owned, 822-acre island, located at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, is home to nationally significant natural and cultural resources including lands traditionally used by Indigenous nations; a historic, decommissioned Army post; and more than 500 plant and animal species, 111 of which…