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Susquehanna River Basin Commission Hands-On Eels In The Classroom Restoration Program

[Editor’s Note: See how the restoration of freshwater mussels and American eels are related.]

As the temperature slowly begins to warm, millions of juvenile American eels, known as elvers, will continue to migrate upstream into freshwater systems along the Atlantic seaboard.

The Susquehanna River will be no different except that these eels will make it deep into Pennsylvania and New York, a feat unheard of just 10 years ago.

The Susquehanna River Watershed was once rich with eels, but as dams were constructed across the river the eels disappeared, unable to access the freshwater needed to complete their life cycle.

Aaron Henning, an aquatic biologist and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s representative on the basin’s interagency migratory fish restoration cooperative, has championed the return of the American eel by working closely with the Fish and Boat Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Through his involvement in the re-licensing of hydroelectric projects, one million American eels have been recovered and stocked upstream of Conowingo Dam.

The potential ecological benefits of migratory fish restoration have been known for years, but only now is their value beginning to be realized.

Eels serve as an intermediate host species for some freshwater mussels, another imperiled group of animals.

In streams where they now co-exist, the mussels are now successfully reproducing thanks in part to the return of the eel.

“We’re bringing back a species that’s been absent for multiple generations. People are going to be curious and have questions. The goal is to have the next generation develop a greater appreciation and understanding of natural resources than the one that came before it,” Henning said.

This is where ‘Eels in the Classroom’ comes in.

Through an internal funding award received directly from the Commission, seven Pennsylvania School Districts and the Bradford County Conservation District will each receive 15 juvenile eels to raise in their classrooms in 2019.

Eels will be collected from ‘elver ramps’ located on Octoraro Creek and the Susquehanna River at Conowingo Dam and given to the young educators, our future hydrologists, biologists, and environmental scientists!

While raising the eels in their classrooms, the students will learn about water quality, ecology, and migratory fishes. At the end of the program the eels will ultimately be returned to the Susquehanna to complete their life cycle.

The 2019 participants in the Eels In The Classroom Restoration Program include: Lewisburg Area High School, Bradford County Conservation District, Mifflin County Junior High School, Valley View High School, Abington Heights School District, Milton Area School District, Loyalsock Township School District, and East Pennsboro High School.

If your school district has an interest in participating in the future, please contact Aaron Henning by sending email to: ahenning@srbc.net.

(Photo: Students from Lewisburg Area High School, American eel elvers.)

(Reprinted from Guardian newsletter, Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Click Here to sign up for your own copy.

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