Weymouth makes a safer swim for river herring
Ed Baker
Wicked Local
The annual migration of the river herring to Whitman’s Pond through Jackson Square is underway and will be safer because of upgrades made in the channel last year.
WEYMOUTH- The river herring’s annual migration to Whitman’s Pond is underway, and residents can watch the spectacle in Herring Run Park in Jackson Square or at a channel stream near Lovell Field.
Weymouth Herring Warden George Loring said the first wave of alewives arrived April 8, and the fish are “lining up” at wooden ladders in the channel instead of being diverted into an adjacent flood control channel.
“We got rid of the flood control gate,” he said. “For the first time in 33 years, I have not had to worry about it. The fish would get in there. Sometimes they would come back out, but other times they’d die in there.”
In May 2010, nearly 10,000 river herring died in the flood control tunnel after being sidetracked into the conduit because of the crumbling gate and a collapsed board.
Sum Co Eco-Contracting made improvements last year under the supervision of the Department of Public Works.
The upgrades included placing a cement barrier near the flood control tunnel to prevent alewives from entering. Workers also smoothed the ground in the channel near a concrete pad to help the alewives spawn.
Weymouth officials estimated the project would cost $650,000 to complete, and the financing includes $350,000 from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
Additional funding includes $300,000 from the town’s “free cash” or undesignated fund.
Loring said, “the fish seem to be pretty happy with the project,” and the alewives migration could last a month.
“We have three separate (migratory alewives) groups,” he said. “They sometimes overlap. There could be fish in the river for quite a while.”
During past years, the migration period for the river herring in Weymouth has occurred from mid to late April and into June.
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The alewives’ journey from the ocean to Whitman begins at the Back River and continues through the channel, which flows under a Broad Street bridge through Jackson Square.
Loring said the wardens hope to remove some silt buildup in a pool behind The Venetian Weymouth restaurant to aid the alewives migration.
“The (alewives) scouts came on the (April) eighth, and a larger group came on the ninth,” he said.
Loring said large groups of people have been observing the alewives swimming through Herring Run Park and Jackson Square’s channel.
“Saturday was a real busy day,” he said. “People were watching yesterday even though it was a cold day. The fish were moving, and people were there.”
Loring said the wardens hope visitors could aid the fish migration by preventing litter from falling into the channel and the herring run park.
“People could come with a shopping bag and take some stuff out,” he said. “They don’t have to take everything, but every little bit they take out helps. It would be nice if people that visit the park pick up any debris or trash instead of leaving it there.”
Loring said the wardens could not have a yearly cleanup of the herring channel last year because of health restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“Weymouth is doing a town-wide cleanup day on April 24,” he said. “We will get some people to do some work.”
Loring said herring run visitors should also remember there is a statewide moratorium.
“I don’t know if it will ever disappear in Weymouth,” he said.
The prohibition was implemented due to alewives’ overharvesting, and state officials renewed the moratorium in 2017.
Violators of the ban are subject to a $50 fine and various state penalties.
According to ecologists, the river herring is considered a valued bait by fishing enthusiasts and invaluable to the food chain.
The moratorium does not restrict commercial baitfish vessels and processors from possessing river herring provided the catch occurred in federal water. The possession of alewives by commercial interests can’t exceed 5% of the total baitfish catch under the prohibition.
The herring run channel and its proximity to Lovell Field are considered unique aspects of attracting people to Jackson Square businesses.
Town officials are reviewing some recommended overlay zoning changes by Harriman, a Boston consultant.
The firm’s recommendations include allowing three-and-a-half story apartment/retail center buildings to be built near Commercial, Broad, Pleasant, and Water streets.
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