Overview Description of the Long River Ichthyoplankton Survey: A Component of the Historical Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program

The Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program (HRBMP) is a large-scale comprehensive long-term survey program covering the Hudson River Estuary (HRE) from Battery Park (river mile [RM] 0) to Albany (RM 152), NY. The historical HRBMP, gifted to and curated by the Chen Lab at Stony Brook University, includes the six core surveys conducted from 1974 through 2017. The three major river-wide fish surveys (Long River Ichthyoplankton Survey [LRS], Fall Juvenile Survey [FJS], and Beach Seine Survey [BSS]) follow random stratified survey designs consistently over their survey period. Although the overall survey design is relatively stable, all the survey programs in the historical HRBMP experienced large and frequent changes in survey protocols to address emerging issues and logistic limitations over the multi-decadal survey period. The HRBMP programs collect some data on older fish, but mainly target the early life history stages from eggs to young-of-year (YOY). Fish in early life stages are most vulnerable and sensitive to changes in their environments and play a key role in regulating fish population dynamics. From 1974 to 2017, the LRS collected more than 100,000 tows, for more than 160 species in the HRE. The initial key fish species targeted by the survey program were, Atlantic Tomcod (Microgadus tomcod), American Shad (Alosa sapidissima), Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), White Perch (M. americana), and Bay Anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli). However, additional species of interested were added over the duration of the survey.

Citation to use for the LRS metadata record:

The Long River Ichthyoplankton Survey (LRS): A Component of the Historical Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program (HRBMP). HRBMP Metadata. The Chen Lab, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.