We would like to hear from you. Does this report give you the information on Connecticut's environment that you need? Is there something missing? Mail: Phone: Fax: E-mail: {Lates Data No Change} The amount of nitrogen dumped into Long Island Sound and its tributaries affects oxygen levels in the water. Connecticut has been reducing nitrogen discharges to Long Island Sound and has met all targets to date: {Trend in Nitrogen Discharges to Long Island Sound} However, the area of low oxygen expanded again in 2009: {Trend in Hypoxia} The area of shellfish beds unconditionally approved for harvesting has declined since 2005: {Trend in Open Shellfish Beds} Hypoxia is a condition in the water when oxygen levels are too low to fully support desirable forms of life, including fish and lobsters. (For this indicator, hypoxia is defined as less than or equal to 3.5 mg/l of dissolved oxygen.) Hypoxia occurs when the nitrogen in pollution stimulates excessive growth of aquatic plants, which die and are consumed by oxygen-using bacteria. Connecticut's goal is to “eliminate the adverse impacts of hypoxia resulting from human activities.” Hypoxia occurs predominantly in the western portions of the Sound. Weather greatly influences hypoxia, making year-to-year changes less important than long-term trends. To reduce the nitrogen inputs that cause hypoxia, Connecticut and New York adopted a comprehensive management plan in 1994, and built upon that plan with an expanded agreement in 2002. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture and Laboratory Services monitors shellfish beds and classifies them according to their potential for the harvesting of healthful, uncontaminated shellfish. The third graph above shows the acreage of shellfish beds that are unconditionally approved for harvesting because they are generally unaffected by pollution. (Even areas that are fully approved can be closed as a precaution following exceptional rainfalls of three or more inches.) Aquaculture experts have suggested that the volume of runoff from lawns and pavement is increasing and flowing further into the sound, resulting in the shrinkage of the shellfish beds that are fully approved. |
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