Sixty one people attended the fourth annual meeting of the River Herring Network on October 30, 2014 in Plymouth at the Public Library. Participants represented 18 towns, 1 Tribe, 5 state agencies, the federal agency NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, and 5 non-profit organizations. Two representatives of the Massachusetts Bays Program also attended.
Four speakers gave power point presentations on DMF’s efforts to monitor herring passage using video, updates on local, state, and federal efforts to manage river herring populations, how otoliths (ear bones) and genetics are being used to determine habitat use, and origin of river herring that are caught as bycatch in the Atlantic Herring fishery, and how to maintain passage for river herring while also preserving habitat features for other species. The meeting also featured a panel discussion with three town herring wardens about stream clearing. Approximately 25 people also participated in a field trip to view fish passage and dam removal projects along Town Brook in Plymouth.
The powerpoint presentations and notes and photos from the meeting are available at the link below.
http://riverherringnetwork.org/about-us/annual-meeting.html
If you have ideas for activities you would like to see happen in 2015, or would like to join the River Herring Network Steering Committee, please send an email through the “Contact Us” tab on the website.
