By William Croyle
Enquirer contributor

Eileen Flynn, a senior aquatic biologist at Newport Aquarium, feeds kiwis to arapaimas in the aquarium's Amazon Rain Forest exhibit. (Patrick Reddy photo)

Eileen Flynn was scrubbing algae off a wall in the 150,000-gallon Amazon exhibit tank at the Newport Aquarium one day when three arapaima fish swam to her.

"Two were at my shoulders and one was at my knees watching what I was doing," said Flynn. "They're like puppies. They have personalities and are very curious."

That left Flynn with mixed feelings about eating some of their kin in the Amazon region next week - but it's a trip she wouldn't miss for anything.

Flynn, 27, is a senior aquatic biologist who cares for ornamental fish in 15 tanks at the aquarium. She'll take a two-week break from her duties here when she leaves Tuesday for the real deal - an excursion and study of aquatic life in the Rio Negro River, the largest tributary of the Amazon River.

The ornamental fishing industry - which involves the capturing and exporting of wild fish for the aquarium fish trade - is a $600 million business worldwide involving 350 million fish, with almost all of the fish coming from the Amazon.

Worldwide fish farming and more stringent regulations have put the livelihood of the Amazonian fishermen at risk, said Scott Dowd, senior aquarist at the New England Aquarium.

Dowd, who has been to the Amazon more than 25 times, will lead Flynn and 16 others from the United States and South America. They will sleep on hammocks, travel by canoe and eat the food they catch - including arapaima, pacu and piranha - while trying to help the Amazonians maintain their way of life and preserve the rainforest.

The trip is through Project Piaba, which has done scientific research in the Amazon since 1989.

By gathering data, such as the population and diversity of fish species, Project Piaba hopes to determine sustainable levels of fishing so the natives don't have to resort to destroying the land to survive.

The group will offer technical advice to the Amazonians while learning from them how the fish should be handled.

"The whole idea is trying to help the natives perfect their craft," said Pam Lyons, husbandry director at the aquarium who went on the same kind of trip in 1997. "These people depend completely on the ornamental fish trade. If it wasn't for this fishery, they may be doing ranching or logging instead to make a living."

Flynn will snorkel and take ecotours in the mornings and evenings, looking for birds, otters, sloths, monkeys and jaguars. During the day she will drop nets to catch and study fish. Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s each afternoon with high humidity and daily rain showers.

Flynn said she isn't packing anything unusual, other than a "really good raincoat," a hat with a brim to block the sun, and a two-week supply of malaria pills. She already took four pills for typhoid, a yellow fever vaccination and two hepatitis vaccinations.

The only danger Flynn foresees is the possibility of stepping on a stingray. Her biggest fear is communicating with the Amazonians, who speak Portuguese. "I've been out of the country before, but never where English is not spoken heavily," said Flynn.

The positive aspects of the trip greatly outweigh the cons, she said. "I'm very excited about it. I think the Amazon is a great place and should be preserved - and hopefully what I do will contribute to that."