Herring Runs

Swimming from Sea to Stream, Alewives Mark a Rite of Spring

With the water still cold, John Hoy thinks a lot more alewives are coming.

Herring Return in Large Numbers at Squibnocket This Year

River herring have made a strong and early return to Squibnocket Pond this year, reflecting a hopeful trend statewide. Dredging efforts over the winter in the Gay Head Herring Creek are being partly credited for the rebound.

Herring Creek Dredging Comes to a Halt

A winter-long dredging project in the Aquinnah Herring Creek is on pause after a crew hired by the Wampanoag tribe came up short on a deadline.

Dredging Aims to Restore Historic Herring Run

Dredging has begun at Herring Creek, the shallow run that connects Menemsha and Squibnocket Ponds, marking the final phase of a five-year project.

River Herring Continue Their Steep Decline

Despite strict conservation measures, river herring are in deep trouble all along the Massachusetts coast including on the Vineyard.

Aquinnah Herring Cam Offers Fish's Eye View of Underwater Action

Since installing the Island’s first underwater herring cam, scientists have had a fish’s-eye view of herring, otters, cormorants and other species making their way through a historic herring run in Aquinnah.

State, Town Give Green Light to Hand Digging at James Pond Cut

With support from officials, a group of residents will get out their shovels and widen a channel between James Pond and Vineyard Sound.

James Pond Cut Is Subject for Study by Town, State

Longstanding efforts to widen a historic herring run and improve circulation in James Pond are gaining momentum. The 50-acre pond is tucked along the north shore of West Tisbury.

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Smell Fish? Island Herring Runs Come Alive But Worries Persist

Herring have arrived in Vineyard waters, and this is particularly good news for a fish in trouble. Years ago local fishermen used to count the herring by the barrel; today they are counted only by the handful.

This is the fourth spring Massachusetts anglers have been prohibited from catching these fish. The state moratorium is a hardline effort to protect the fish from further decline. An initial three-year moratorium was renewed; it is to last another two years.

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Three Years Into Moratorium, Island Herring Runs Still Slow

Herring are harbingers of spring. The first of them usually appear in Island waters now. But there is serious concern about the health of the fishery across the region.

Although Massachusetts is in the third year of a moratorium on the harvesting of these small fish, the fishery has failed to rebound. Fishing prohibitions are also in place in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Also known as alewives and river herring, these anadromous fish make a pilgrimage every spring into coastal estuaries, to spawn in the freshwater pond where they themselves were created.

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