Fishes of the Hackensack River Estuary
July 1998

The Fishes Swim Through it— Once Again.

Text and illustrations by John R. Quinn

It’s a safe bet that the pre-Columbian "Meadowlands" were home to about 200 species of edible shell and finfish, all spinning out their eons-old life cycles in an environment of unquestioned biological purity and integrity. And up until the middle years of the 19th century, no one saw any reason why this state of affairs would not always remain so.
But—by the early years of this century pollution so foul as to nearly sound the death knell for the river poured into her watery depths. Fish populations had tumbled so far down that by the 1960s it was determined that the only fish able to maintain a viable breeding population in the estuary was the hardy and nearly indestructible mummichog, or common killifish.
The ‘chog, famous as fluke-fishing bait, was able to survive even in the grim Arthur Kill and Berry’s Creek, the latter once thought to be the most polluted waterway in the United States. The lower Hackensack River near Newark Bay, as well, had become an oxygen-less "dead zone" that ended the fabulous herring, shad and striped bass runs the colonials knew; even the resilient common eel and blue crab were hard-pressed to draw breath in "the Hacky" of the 1970s.
But the outlook for the estuary’s fishes is nonetheless an optimistic one. Whereas forty years ago some 13 fish species were recorded as at least surviving in the estuary, recent surveys have revealed that 43 species now thrive in encouraging—and rising— population densities.
While the construction and closure of the dam at Oradell in 1921 effectively changed the lower river from a free-running stream to a completely brackish ecosystem, blueback and Atlantic herring, alewife, and the striper, all of whom depend on free-flowing streams for spawning, are nonetheless returning to the Hackensack.
In addition, such fishes as summer flounder, spot (lafayette), tomcod and anchovies, all of which had virtually disappeared entirely from the river by the 1920s, are now being collected in significant numbers by biologists. And of course mummichogs, delighting in this dramatic improvement in their aquatic lebensraum, are more abundant than ever—which is saying something!
Recreational fishing and crabbing on the Hackensack River are undergoing a rebirth; although health advisories against consumption of the catch remain in effect, many subsistence anglers do so anyway.
So, how was this remarkable transformation brought about, and who’s responsible for it? The answer is as complex as the decades old problem is. Rigorously enforced regulations of the 1964 Clean Water Act had something to do with it, as did the combined efforts of public and private groups with an interest in the fate of this ancient river.
Grass-roots environmental organizations such as former Hackensack River Coalition, the recently formed Hackensack Riverkeeper, the Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network (Bergen SWAN), the American Littoral Society’s Baykeeper and the 76-year-old Wanda Canoe Club, and 15-year-old Hackensack River Canoe & Kayak Club have all lobbied vigorously for the protection of the natural Meadowlands in the face of continuing development pressures.
The Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, a state regulatory agency formed in 1968 specifically to oversee development and habitat preservation in the Meadowlands, has had a hand in its resurrection as well.
Long maligned as the handmaiden of Meadowlands landowners and developers, the HMDC has nonetheless effected the closure and sealing of active landfills in the Meadowlands District, enforced water quality regulations and developed recreational resources in the Meadowlands, and conducted public education programs on the history and biology of the estuary, all the while juggling the issues inherent in the intricate mosaic of privately-owned land, relentless economic pressures, and the need to protect and mitigate vital wetlands.
No small task in a wetland habitat that lies less than six miles from Manhattan’s Times Square. Regardless of your opinion of the various players in the current Meadowlands drama, their combined efforts have boded well for the river’s fishes.
While the prospect of sitting down to a meal of fish taken fresh from the Hacky may yet be years off in the future, and the river’s waters are still much too turbid to offer snorkeling and fish watching opportunities, there is now little doubt that these hopeful scenarios may some day become the taken-for-granted reality once again.

— John R. Quinn

John R. Quinn is the author of Fields of Sun and Grass: An Artist’s Journal of the New Jersey Meadowlands (Rutgers University Press, 1997) and Nature’s World Records (McGraw-Hill Companies, 1998).

Copyright © 1998 John R. Quinn