ECF has participated in the APCC / Mass Bays herring monitoring program for the past few years. A cohort of dedicated volunteers report to our two herring runs at specific times during ‘the run’ and count the number of fish that actually swim into each pond. This data is then transmitted to the Division of Marine Fisheries and an estimate of the true number of fish is calculated.
We have finally returned to in-person counting of our herring (alewife) populations as they return each Spring to spawn and return to the sea.
While this activity has been interrupted by the Covid issues we welcomed our volunteers back to both counting stations at Herring Pond and Bridge Pond.
Was it a banner year for herring ? Sadly the answer is NO !! This was reflected in low counts elsewhere across Cape Cod and the mainland. The results for for the 2022 count were:
Bridge Pond: 1,327 +/- 476
Herring Pond: 823 +/- 292.
We did celebrate the solid effort that all our volunteers contributed with a pizza party — a huge THANK YOU — and ‘see you next year !’
