The Buffalo News reported last week on the condition of the seawall along Broderick Park, a critical choke-point for the migration of the emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides) in the Niagara River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting a feasibility study for critical repairs to the shoreline of Unity Island, which is becoming severely degraded by erosion, ice scouring, and waves. As part of the repairs, the Army Corps is working with the University at Buffalo (UB) to develop fish passage options to improve the habitat in a high-velocity area. The same factors that are causing the shoreline to erode are making it difficult for emerald shiners to migrate upstream to Lake Erie.
This work is the result of the GLC's collaboration with the Army Corps and UB in the Emerald Shiner project. Together, we studied different factors affecting the population of emerald shiners in the Upper Niagara River. Now that this species has been better studied, critical habitat improvements can be initiated.
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