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Registered: 03/01/04
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PROHIBITION ON THE TAKING OF ALEWIFE AND BLUEBACK HERRING FROM CONNECTICUT WATERS EXTENDED FOR ANOTHER YEAR
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that the prohibition on the taking of alewives and blueback herring from most inland and marine waters of the State of Connecticut has been extended for another year. This action was initially taken in April of 2002, and then extended each successive year. The current action by DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette extends the prohibition through March 31, 2011. "All states along the East Coast have seen a dramatic decline in river herring populations since 2002. To combat this decline, the closure of these fisheries must stay in place," said Deputy Commissioner Frechette.
River herring is a term used to collectively refer to alewife and the blueback herring. Both species are anadromous, which means they hatch in freshwater, migrate to the ocean to grow, then return to freshwater to spawn. Historically, millions of river herring returned to Connecticut rivers and streams. each year. In 1985, over 630,000 blueback herring were passed over a single dam, the Holyoke Dam, on the Connecticut River. By 2006, only 21 passed the Holyoke Dam, the lowest number in the history of the Holyoke Fishlift. Last year that number had risen only to 39. While the reasons for these historically low levels are not fully understood, DEP biologists believe predation by increasingly abundant striped bass and undocumented catch in the ocean may be important factors.
“River herring comprise a large portion of the diet of many species of freshwater and marine gamefish, osprey, bald eagle, harbor seals, porpoise, egrets, kingfishers, and river otter,” said William Hyatt, Chief of DEP’s Bureau of Natural Resources, “and it is important to protect river herring runs as a means of protecting all of these other species”. DEP wildlife biologists have noted that strong runs of river herring enhance the survival rate of osprey chicks.
Non-migratory alewife populations are also established in several lakes and ponds in Connecticut. However, these landlocked populations are not experiencing similar declines. The DEP prohibition does not include landlocked alewives from Amos Lake, Ball Pond, Beach Pond, Candlewood Lake, Crystal Lake, Highland Lake, Lake Quassapaug, Lake Quonnipaug, Rogers Lake, Squantz Pond, Uncas Pond, and Lake Waramaug. Alewives in these lakes may still be taken by angling and scoop net as established in state statute and regulation.
Hyatt indicated that the prohibition is expected to stay in place until monitoring by the DEP indicates that the population has recovered to the point where it could safely support some level of harvest. “Protecting populations of wild fish is one of our top priorities,” Hyatt said, “and monitoring conducted during 2009 indicated that the river herring stocks remain very low with no signs of an imminent recovery. The fishery closure will provide critical protection to small spawning runs until such time as the regional trend is reversed,” noted Hyatt. The DEP will continue its other efforts to enhance river herring stocks by transplanting adult herring from streams with healthy runs into streams where runs have been eliminated or greatly depleted, removing obsolete dams and building fishways that allow fish to migrate past remaining dams. Currently, the DEP is working with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the University of Connecticut, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to implement a monitoring project on the Connecticut River in an effort to learn more about river herring in the state’s largest river.
During the past year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopted an amendment to its Fishery Management Plan for river herring that requires all coastal states to improve their monitoring of river herring runs and take positive conservation actions. The New England Fishery Management Council is also considering changes to the Atlantic herring fishery in federal waters to reduce the accidental harvest of river herring in the ocean.
Dennis Schain Communications Director Conn. Dept. of Environmental Protection Phone: 860-424-3110 Cell: 860-462-3468 Fax: 860-424-4053 dennis.schain@ct.gov
Blaine
Member
Registered: 01/29/02
Posts: 15340
Loc: South Carolina
The state does that Pat. They use volunteers as well I'll see if I can dig up the most recent report I have on how many were transplanted and where they went.
In 1985, over 630,000 blueback herring were passed over a single dam
By 2006, only 21 passed the Holyoke Dam
Last year that number had risen only to 39.
DEP biologists believe predation by increasingly abundant striped bass and undocumented catch in the ocean may be important factors.
Capt. I know that it is just a press release and you did not write it, but I am disappointed to see reference to increasingly abundant striped bass still listed as a possible cause factor. That text is left over from several years ago and it was wrong back than. While it is good that ocean harvest & by-catch is finally included this yearly announcement, it is hard for me to believe the fisheries folks at DEP endorse the Striped Bass text as written.
To even imply the that Striped Bass has driven the measured population down by 99.99% (actually closer to 100%) seems to fly in the face of food chain science.
I totally understand and support the closure to attempt to save the breading stock but it infuriates me that a modest recreational harvest needs to be shut off - so the herring can be sucked up by the billions in the Gulf of Maine. THAT IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS.
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I think there are a number of factors contributing to the decline. There are runs that support thousands of fish. These are documented counts by the DEP. I wonder why some runs are wiped almost clean while others seem to do well in comparison?
Militant Bluefish Jihadist
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In my mind this is perhaps the biggest F up in all of fisheries regulation on the East Coast.
Bass, Blue fish, Cod, Tunas, etc etc etc all depend on the herring. Take all that biomass out of the bottom of the food chain and watch the whole thing fall apart. Very sad to think that the yearly run of herring in the CT River may not be fishable for many years.
""Happy Talk" . . . . . Because it has worked so well thus far"
"It is not necessary to change; survival is not mandatory" - Edward Deming
"Unless we start to focus everything on this, our targets will soon be out of reach" - Greta Thunberg January 2020
"I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard.
Team Man Made Climate Change is Real.
"Such change demands on our part a serious and responsible recognition not only of the kind of world we may be leaving to our children, but also to the millions of people living under a system which has overlooked them" - Pope Francis September 2015
Tackleman
Member
Registered: 07/22/02
Posts: 13820
Loc: Suffield/Niantic, CT
Originally Posted By: Blaine
The state does that Pat. They use volunteers as well I'll see if I can dig up the most recent report I have on how many were transplanted and where they went.
Nifty Capt... next time we are hang'in out bs'ing I'll remember to ask you about it.
I do believe the bass are a problem. Last year very few of the bass I caught appeared well fed and I did not find a single preyfish in the stomach of a bass. This tells me they are not getting enough to eat (possibly because there are too many). The bigger problem, I think, is that the bass have expanded their year-round and spawning range. Originally, bass did not spend the winter in river systems this far north, so they would not have been present when the herring migration (and salmon smolt outmigration, etc.) occured, they would arrive after it. Now they are here waiting when the herring enter the rivers. I also think that they have begun spawning in many more locations than they did historically, which may have allowed for the production of increased numbers of bass.
**2-Time Defending State of Connecticut Freshwater Angler of the Year**
I'll see if I can dig up the most recent report I have on how many were transplanted and where they went.
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