Hamburg, NY, April 12, 2013 - Over 200 participants attended yesterday's 20th State of the Lake meeting, sponsored by NYSG with support from Assemblyman Sean Ryan’s office.
As mentioned in this clip from Your News Now (YNN), the event includes presentation from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other partners to educate local fisherman on the current status of the lake.
Other speakers included New York Sea Grant (NYSG) Coastal Education Specialist Helen Domske and Buffalo State College's Dr. Christopher Pennuto. Discussions ranged from rehabilitation efforts by conservation agencies to threats to local wildlife.
NYSG's Domske told area anglers and residents how they can help. "One of the things they can do is stop the spread of invasive species. They shouldn't move bait buckets; they should clean their boat," said Domske. "We tell people not to flush pharmaceuticals down the drain because it does eventually get out to the lake."
At the meeting, Domske also unveiled NYSG's new Lake Erie fact sheet (pdf), which provides information about the Lake's fisheries as well as some of the problems it faces, such as invasive species, dead zones, and harmful algal blooms.
The YNN channel, based in Syracuse, telecasts two separate program feeds, one to Central/Northern New York; one to the Southern Tier. YNN is available to nearly 600,000 cable subscribers across a 25-county, 15,000 square mile area.
More Info:
New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University
and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based
programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP
engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting
scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed
to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our
aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated
services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental
sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great
Lakes resources since 1971.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, and Currents, its e-newsletter supplement, each distributed 3-4 times a year.
