Anadromous Fish Run Management

The division continued to patrol and maintain the Long Pond and Baxter Mill herring runs. Although water levels have been low due to lower than normal rainfall in the late spring and summer, the runs are in good shape. Unfortunately, due to other factors out of our control, the fish numbers are very low this year.

Extremely low river herring numbers are being seen state-wide, leading the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to impose a three-year moratorium on:
See the Herring Species Identification Guide.

Officers from the Natural Resources Division will be conducting increased patrols to ensure that no river herring are taken.

The Division also plans to work with marine fishery biologists to introduce “spawners” to Long Pond and possibly other historic herring runs sometime during the course of the moratorium to help in the recovery of this resource. This will depend on the fish's availability in systems where donor stocks are taken from.

We hope to see river herring once again become a viable resource.