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| Little Pond by the Falmouth Enterprise |
Stop Killing Striped Bass with Excessive Lawn Fertilizer
Green lawns can coexist with healthy fish and you can save money while cleaning our shores of rotting algae.
On a hot July day, sixteen striped bass, a horseshoe crab, and an unidentified crab were found dead on the shore of Little Pond, a salt pond in Falmouth. Fish swam into a harmful algal bloom and died quickly from the lack of oxygen. The town responded swiftly with a bylaw to reduce lawn fertilizing by 80 percent, from five pounds to one pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of healthy lawn. The fertilizer industry went to the state. Falmouth people were mandated by the state to apply five pounds of fertilizer if they wanted their lawns to stay green.
Fortunately for the marine life of Falmouth, the local state senator was at the time President of the Senate. She amended a budget bill to exempt Falmouth from the state rule, restoring the town's right to home rule when it came to lawn care.
Act with the Ocean River Institute for responsible lawn stewardship without the toxic runoff into our waterways. We ask for your voice; we ask for your stories and we ask for your support.
Tell Beacon Hill the 350 other municipalities in Massachusetts, "the Bay State," also have rights to clean water, healthy fish, rivers not clogged by green slime, and algae-free summer beaches. They also would not mind saving time, effort and money on unneeded lawn fertilizer that pollutes.
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Something is Rotten in The State of Our Waterways
"An Algal Bloom of Epic Proportions" headlines the Santa Cruz Waves (June 29, 2015). Gary Griggs writes: "The entire west coast is experiencing a harmful algal bloom of unprecedented size that extends from Central California to Washington State ... Massive blooms of phytoplankton, or microscopic floating algae such as diatoms, are common along the central coast of California in the late spring and summer. Just like the weeds emerging in your garden in the spring, when the weather warms and nutrients are provided ... the plants in the coastal ocean bloom like a huge garden."
Tune in to Rob's podcast with K. C. Armstrong on Women's Radio Network on striped bass and dogfish. Rob talks about his work with the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association (recreational) and Massachusetts Commercial Striped Bass Association to successfully sue the U.S. Government for not taking an ecosystem-based management approach to management of herring, the primary forage fish of striped bass. Rob also talks with K.C. about dogfish and how one can save both fish and local fishing communities by eating more dogfish, a fish that can be mistaken for cod and haddock when deep-fried.
Black Sea Bass and Green crabs moving north are the topics of the program with K.C. Armstrong that preceded the striped bass episode. As cod and lobster are moving north to cooler waters, the black sea bass has been expanding its range and preying on green crab, also an invasive species from warmer climates. Rob then comments on the article published by Rebecca Kessler about how fish and marine animals are responding to environmental changes in the supposedly warming Gulf of Maine, and explains the "barn door open" "barn door closed" phenomenon. Rob closes with an explanation and history about estimating fish populations and how eating seafood and eating local can help us reduce our carbon footprint.
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Patagonia Store Boston Staff hosted
Plight of the Torpedo People at an event with photographer/filmmaker Chris Burkard to benefit the Ocean River Institute.
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Talkin' Striped Bass, Stoppin' Algal Blooms at Patagonia Boston
Saturday, August 8th, Harper and Michela will be tabling at the Patagonia Boston store at 346 Newbury Street. Come by and talk with us about protecting striped bass and cleaning our beaches by changing our lawn care practices. One can have a green lawn and healthy waters while saving money.
We spent Saturday at Patagonia two weeks ago and had a great time talking with people. We thank Patagonia for hosting us, and thanks to everyone that stopped by.
Come on by Saturday Aug 8. Let's talk about what's in your ocean. Tell us your fish tales. Together, we're growing a vocal coalition for clean beaches and healthy fish in Massachusetts.
Hey, Beacon Hill, can you hear us now? Where'd you get that rain jacket with good quality zipper, seams sealed inside and pit zips?
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| Algae covered Cape Cod beach, photo by USGS |
We want clean beaches and clear water with plenty of healthy marine life. If you want this too, please make a donation today. Your financial participation will help us achieve needed resources to stop nitrogen pollution off of lawns that feeds toxic algal blooms. Together with other donors, we are gaining every town the freedom enjoyed by Falmouth to save money by fertilizing only when the lawn is in need of nitrogen and not whenever the industry is in need of a sale.
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Take a Minute to Earn $2 for Saving Oceans
Opinions 4 Good (Op4G) is an online market research company that provides funding for nonprofits. Since partnering with Op4G, ORI has received a total of $1,177 in donated survey incentives from our panel members. For each new member that joins this month, Op4G will donate $2 to Ocean River Institute. Long-term participation will provide additional donations throughout the year, with the average survey paying $3.50 for about 10 minutes of your time.
Click here to sign up. Every $2 helps us get more people involved in saving fish, sharks, and our oceans. After you sign up, please share this opportunity with friends on facebook or twitter.
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Once again Macy's is saving oceans and rivers by partnering with the Ocean River Institute. Donate $5 to ORI and we'll mail you a card for 25% off your total purchase at Macy's Stores. Simply write "Shop for a Cause" in the Additional Comments field at the bottom of the online donation form and ORI will send you the card. Click for more info.
See what others are saying about ORI and why we are a five-star nonprofit on Greatnonprofits.org.
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The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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