PARTNERSHIP FOR THE DELAWARE ESTUARY RECEIVES PRESIDENT’S FISHERY CONSERVATION AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY

(Atlantic City, NJ) August 21, 2018 – Partnership for the Delaware Estuary received the President’s Fishery Conservation Award at the 2018 American Fisheries Society (AFS) Annual Meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey. AFS President Steve L. McMullin presented the award at the meeting’s plenary session. The President’s Fishery Conservation Award is awarded for singular accomplishments or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a regional or local level.

“We applaud the distinguished contributions of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and thank them for their continuous efforts to advance aquatic resource conservation,” said AFS President Steve L. McMullin.

The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) is a regional nonprofit organization established in 1996 to take a leadership role in protecting and enhancing the Delaware Estuary. Its mission is to lead science-based and collaborative efforts to improve the tidal Delaware River and Bay, which spans Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The partnership is one of 28 National Estuary Programs established throughout the coastal United States working to improve the environmental health of the nation’s estuaries.

The PDE’s core science and research programs demonstrate long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation in the expansive Delaware Estuary. The PDE partners with local scientists to monitor the health of its wetlands. The PDE has also partnered with Rutgers University to implement the Delaware Estuary Living Shoreline Initiative to help stabilize eroding shorelines.

In addition, PDE scientists conserve native mussel populations and restore native freshwater mussels to the Delaware Estuary and River basin with the help of trained citizen scientists, and the PDE supports oyster restoration through its participation in the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Task Force. It has also helped to catalog and describe species living within the benthic ecosystem of the Delaware River and Bay, as well as create comprehensive maps of plant communities across the Delaware Estuary.

PDE has also established and compiled a Standard Methods Bank to promote and share standard operating monitoring procedures and methods for various scientific investigations. These methods are used by PDE and its partners for living shoreline, wetlands, and freshwater mussel restoration and monitoring projects.

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Editor’s Notes:

Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The mission of AFS is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With five journals and numerous books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world.

General link: fisheries.org

Link to AFS Annual Meeting: afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org