NEW BEDFORD – Hundreds of years ago, local rivers ran silver with herring every spring, but today, only a small fraction of that population still travel upstream to reproduce in spawning areas.
Data collected over the last quarter-century by the Buzzards Bay Coalition and other organizations offers reasons for the decline and a look at possible solutions.
The Mattapoisett River serves as the local benchmark for following herring populations as it has the longest dataset.
In 1921, 1.85 million herring were counted compared to just 18,500 last year – or 1 percent of the historic high just under 100 years ago.
One of the biggest problems facing the migration of the fish are dams, road culverts and other blockages that make it hard for the fish to reach their spawning grounds.
Commercial fishing trawlers off the coast have also contributed to the decline as river herring often end up as bycatch.
Local projects across the Buzzards Bay region have begun to eliminate blockages to rivers and allow the fish to get upstream to spawning areas.
The population of the fish has increased tenfold on the Acushnet River since a dam at The Sawmill was lowered in 2007.
The river herring provide an important link in the bay’s food web and is a major source of food for popular sportfish and water-birds.
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