Lots of water bottles
 
 
Tell Washington why we need broader endocrine disruptor test rules for our drinking water.  A hearing was held Thursday on a drinking water funding bill, which includes expanding the scope of the EPA’s endocrine disruptor screening program (EDSP) to cover industrial chemicals in addition to pesticides currently screened. Industry doubts the need for the additional authority.
 

Our Stolen Futures by Theo Colburn established that man-made chemicals can mimic our body’s endocrine cycle chemistry, disrupt fertility development in both sexes, cause deformities, and contribute to cancer. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor chemical that leaches out of hard plastic water bottles. Scientists have discovered another contaminant from plastic. “It’s BPA’s fluorinated twin – on steroids.” Bisphenol AF (BPAF) appears to be even more potent than BPA in altering the effects of steroid hormones such as estrogen in humans.  While little is know about human exposures to BPAF, it has already been detected in women’s fat cells.
 
The bill will expand the EDSP focus beyond human health to also consider impacts on wildlife. If you care what chemicals are in water or what’s accumulating in your body, please take a moment to comment and sign ORI’s support letter.
 
 
Write-in $5 on the donations page and help ORI to meet the average per person
cost of influencing decision-makers. Thanks for helping us all get heard!
___________________________________________________________________________
 

 
 
Urge Mid-Atlantic region fisheries managers to address the at-sea bycatch of river herring and shad in federally managed trawl fisheries for squid and mackerel.  Ocean morality as bycatch of river herring and shad remain largely unaddressed. River herring and shad are essential to the coastal forage fish base that supports a wealth of predators like striped bass, bluefish, ospreys and dolphins.


Assist the Marine Fish Conservation Network protect river herring and shad from ocean bycatch by signing their letter that calls for the following actions: 1) high levels of at-sea catch monitoring in the mackerel and squid fisheries; 2) enforceable bycatch limits; and, 3) bycatch-triggered trawl fishing area closures that protect offshore habitat where river herring and shad are known to congregate.
___________________________________________________________________________

baby sturgeon in CT River
 
 
Sturgeons and lampreys are truly ocean river dwellers. My understanding and awe of anadromous fish was forever altered by lamprey nest building behavior and what the behavior of two sturgeon told Dr Boyd Kynard last month. Many years ago, he discovered in his neighborhood the only Massachusetts tributary river of the Connecticut River watershed that is not dammed, the Fort River. 
 
For this week's episode of Moir's Environmental Dialogues Dr. Kynard talks with Rob about an amazing fish, the lamprey, which stops feeding in Long Island Sound to travel to the Pelham Hills. The lampreys transport carbon and ocean chemicals, including boron, to endow ecosystems far from the sea.  Discover the many ways lampreys leave an environment better off than found.
 
Discover Dr. Kynard’s remarkable research findings of Atlantic and short-nosed sturgeon populations in the CT and Merrimack Rivers. Both sturgeons and lampreys are resilient, long-lived fish, ocean wanderers with life histories and survival strategies very different from the well-studied salmon. 
___________________________________________________________________________

Kayakers in Salem Sound, 2009
 
More Ways To Get Involved!

Visit Ocean River Institute's - Save Our Oceans And Rivers - a cause page on Facebook.  Our cause now has 715 members! Help us reach 1,000!
   
Join ORI's Fan page on Facebook.  Write to us and invite friends to join us. Stay informed with what others are saying about ORI and on all the latest news! Please join us by becoming a fan, today!
 
Twitter OceanRiverRob for fast breaking news and updates.
 
ORI is now a 5-star rated environmental nonprofit on Greatnonprofits.org. Check out our page on this site, write a review, and share the site with friends. Click and see what others are saying about our efforts!

Discover how with the knowledge of Rachel Carson and the courage of Achilles individuals are making a difference for healthier oceans, rivers, watersheds and skies. Choose from twenty-one podcast episodes of Moir's Environmental  Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of AchillesAlso available free on iTunes, search "Moir's" or "Achilles." 
  


Ocean River Institute
12 Eliot Street | Cambridge, MA 02138 | 617.661.6647