The Long Island Sound Study has received a $2 million boost in federal funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The study is a bi-state partnership between federal, state, and local governments, as well as research centers. Its focuses include habitat restoration, nitrogen management and water quality.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal visited the Canal Dock Boathouse in New Haven on Friday to announce the grant.
“There is a dearth of real knowledge and facts about how effectively to invest in Long Island Sound and to save it not just for ourselves, but for generations to come,” Blumenthal said.
Bill Lucey, a Long Island Sound keeper with the nonprofit Save The Sound, said the grant will fund ongoing research.
“Climate change is real,” Lucey said. “Things are getting warmer. The fish species are changing. The fish communities are changing. We're concerned about the oyster industry and the clam industry, are they reproducing? What's the future there? And the only way to know what's happening is to continue monitoring.”
He added that research money is hard to come by — and the investment shows a vested congressional interest in supporting the vital body of water.
“It's a lot easier to get money for a new boat, a new building, some sort of capital project, but the real unsung heroes of Long Island Sound are the vast group of researchers,” Lucey said. “They're taking sediment samples, looking at how the oyster spat is moving, they're sampling the fish populations. And that is long term data that really gives us an idea of what's happening.”
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, whose city is bordered by the Sound, spoke about the economic importance of maintaining the water.
“Just look at what we have on our coastline here; it is beautiful, it is healthy, it is a recreational asset, but it's also an economic asset,” Elicker, who used to work with the Land Trust, said. “Just two days ago, we were celebrating Connecticut as being the oyster Napa Valley just down the road here at Shell and Bones. And oysters help filter the water, but they thrive, and we depend on, the water being clean so that we can actually eat those oysters. And that is a huge multi-million-dollar business and economic driver of Connecticut.”
