Massachusetts NFC Obtains Organizations First Scientific Collection Permit...
Members of Newton Conservators and MA NFC seining a heavily manipulated stream on public land…
The Massachusetts chapter of NFC recently obtained a scientific collection permit, the first NFC chapter to do so. Referred to as “Citizen Science,” this will allow the chapter to conduct their own stream surveys and informational public seigning events.
MA NFC has recently gotten involved in suburban and urban streams. Very little is known about these waterways and they are typically a low priority for state agencies as they are typically heavily compromised. With limited resources, agencies typically focus their efforts on places where the return will be higher, and often waters where gamefish are present.
As part of the permitting process, members of MA NFC were required to go through a collection and data sharing protocol session. This will allow NFC to provide MassWildlife with population data that is consistent with what they collect while afield.
NFCs goal is to use non-lethal seining nets, cast nets, and minnow traps to determine presence, age distribution, and where possible abundance of species in waters where little if any historical data is available.
Prior to obtaining a permit, NFC worked with another permited organization to confirm the presence of self-sustaining golden shiners in a suburban stream long believed to be fishless. Since then we have been able to map their presence throughout the system using eDNA and minnow traps.
