Raritan river float 8/31/13:

[AndyS]

Floated from Duke Island Park to the 2nd 287 crossing in Somerset. Started at 7:30 and was off the river by 2:30, got my work out today. Didn't fish much, just mostly floated, when I did fish I threw a big 4" storm shad or a saltwater bomber.

Everything looked great, but there is more work to be done. If I'm gonna be rah-rah- Raritan I have to be out on the water. Sometimes I float just to prove a point, the river is clean and safe. Love floating over where old dams had been. Saw 2 anglers behind Finderne Farms and a Round Valley sized boat above the falls with 2 guys in it, miles of great river, very few fishing it.

Like I said, much work to be done, and I think it will get done.

[AndyS]

Thanks for the photos. Not a pretty sight. We'll see what we can do to get property owners to remove the tires.

Hank Mayer


Henry J. Mayer, Ph.D.
Director, Bloustein-CAIT Ports Program
and Executive Director
Environmental Analysis & Communications Group
Rutgers University

[lunkertaker]

Andy
sounds like a great trip. What the F is up with all the tires?

Love the pic of your canoe facing down a clean river.

[hartattack]

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf..._river_default

[buzzbaiter]

Originally Posted by lunkertaker

Andy
What the F is up with all the tires?

Flooding 'releases' them from junkyards and various other sources like gas station storage areas. As far as trash goes, they are fairly benign and many critters use them as homes(crayfish/madtoms/insects/etc).

[AndyS]

Crayfish are going to have to find a new place to live, like under a rock.

[EJS]

Here is an interesting read for all.

Biomarker responses and chemical analyses in fish indicate leakage of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other compounds from car tire rubber.
AuthorsStephensen E, et al. Show all
Stephensen E, Adolfsson-Erici M, Celander M, Hulander M, Parkkonen J, Hegelund T, Sturve J, Hasselberg L, Bengtsson M, Förlin L.
JournalEnviron Toxicol Chem. 2003 Dec;22(12):2926-31.

AffiliationDepartment of Zoology/Zoophysiology, Göteborg University, Box 463, SE 40530 Göteborg, Sweden.

Abstract
Rubber tire material contains toxic compounds including oils rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), so-called highly aromatic (HA) oils, as well as other reactive additives used as antioxidants, antiozonants, and vulcanization accelerators. The toxicity of rubber tire leachates to aquatic organisms has been demonstrated before. However, previous studies have focused on lethal rather than sublethal effects. We kept rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in tanks with two types of tires: a tire containing HA oils in the tread or a tire free of HA oils in the tread. After 1 d of exposure, an induction of cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) was evident in both exposed groups, measured as elevated ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity and increased CYP1A1 mRNA levels. After two weeks of exposure, EROD activity and CYP1A1 mRNA were still high in fish exposed to leachate from HA oil-containing tire, whereas the effect was somewhat lower in fish exposed to leachate from HA oil-free tread tire. Compounds in the tire leachates also affected antioxidant parameters. Total glutathione concentration in liver as well as hepatic glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities were markedly elevated after two weeks of exposure in both groups. The responses were greater in the group exposed to leachate from HA oil-free tread tire. Vitellogenin measurements did not indicate leakage of estrogenic compounds from the tires. Chemical analyses of bile from exposed fish revealed the presence of hydroxylated PAH as well as aromatic nitrogen compounds indicating uptake of these compounds by the fish.

PMID14713032 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed...216257/related