You might have better luck upstream as the brook goes under Beechwood Street , where last year we had some reports of fish congregrating before they went through the culvert and up the fish ladder. Again no formal parking here and you have to stand on the edge of the road to look over into the water below so be careful.
This run is now fairly depleted and not monitored. The best chance of seeing herring at this site is in May, as the fish are bluebacks who run later in the season in the flowing waters downstream of the Gordon Pond dam. Stand on the dam and look downstream in May and let us know if you see any! Unfortunately, there is not a good solution to expand the spawning area above the dam at this time, as the pond is beloved and the dam is not appropriate for a fish ladder.
Once home to a thriving herring run now only a few seem to return. The Native Americans and colonists used weirs to catch herring here thus the name of the river. The run here is impacted by upstream water withdrawals that lower streamflow in the summer and fall when juvenile herring are outmigrating and like many fish ladders that were placed on old dams this one is not ideal for fish passage.
There are fish ladders at both Foundry and Triphammer Ponds. This year in partnership with the Weir River Watershed, we are starting a count at the Foundry Pond Ladder to see if the health of the run has improved.
The Elm Street dam and fish ladder on the Jones River may soon be gone due to the efforts of the Jones River Watershed Association to restore their river and reconnect it to its headwaters at Silver Lake. Last year they counted over 10, returning fish at the site, their best year since they started counting, and we hope more will be coming back this year! Directions and further information on how you can help can be found here. The Town Brook in Plymouth is a herring restoration success story!
Multiple dams have been removed along the Town Brook as well as other fish passage improvements and herring populations have begun to increase. The Town Brook was used by the Pilgrims as their first water supply and provided them, as well as the Native Americans, with herring that fertilized their beans and corn, as well as provided food to sustain them.
The efforts have worked, as in , the river saw nearly , herring make an appearance, and the annual estimates are consistently over 40, The Mashpee Herring Run is one of the easiest to access because you can park at the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum and the river herring will swim right by on their way to Mashpee Pond.
The museum is right on Route , and since this is one of the busiest herring runs regarding fish numbers, with , herring passing in and , in , you're almost guaranteed to see a lot of action if you stop by in the spring. The fish here swim up Herring Brook toward their pond of choice, with some making their way to Great Pond. Two new culverts were installed along the brook in , which are used to help the fish make their way through up the stream.
Close to 5, fish used this route in , up from the under 2, the previous year. Herring River in Wellfleet is a four-mile-long body that leads to four different ponds. The herring in the area come in from Cape Cod Bay before finally settling in one of the ponds for the summer. Duck Harbor Road connects to a hiking trail, and it is possible to access the river from this road, providing views of the fish, although there is some thick bush through the area.
Fish queue below the Jenney Grist Mill dam off Spring Lane; during peak days of the migration, ten-of-thousands of fish can be seen waiting their turn to move through the fish ladder and make it over the dam. Benches and an observation platform are located here and open to the public to enjoy the migration.
Herring aren't the only fish that can be seen migrating in the spring- rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax and American eels Anguilla rostrata make their way up the Brook each spring as well.
The Town Brook herring have been an important part of Plymouth history since the Pilgrims arrived in The stories in history books that tell of Patuxet tribe member Squanto showing pilgrims how to use herring to fertilize corn seeds is referring to these very Town Brook fish! Or at least their great-great-great-great Herring populations in Town Brook during this time have been estimated at million fish! Due to damming and industrialization, herring populations nationwide began to plummet to dangerous levels, as fish were unable to circumvent the dams to get to spawning grounds.
Over 3, dams currently exist in Massachusetts, and it wasn't until that the first coastal dam in Massachsuetts, located on Town Brook, was removed and began a sort of costal dam-busting revolution in the state.
Since , over 40 dams have been removed in Massachusetts, restoring hundreds of miles of river; 5 dams have been removed on Town Brook alone! With every dam removal, fish are able to reach sections of river that have been inaccessable for hundreds of years, reaching more spawning grounds, and giving migrating fish an increased chance of successfully spawning and bolstering the population.
It is hoped that populations will reach pre-industrialization levels, and allow for harvest to resume. The Town's Division of Natural Resources conducts annual maintenance to Town Brook each spring to ensure fish passage is as clear as possible. During the migration, roughly between mid-March and early June, DNR staff performs daily maintenance and monitoring of Town Brook, checking on water levels, flow rates, and mitigating any hazards that could adversely affect the run.
Below is a timeline of larger projects and events that have helped to directly impact the success of the species. Volunteers are always needed to conduct 10 minute counts from the end of March through first week in June.
The above data is all collected by volunteers, so we depend highly upon citizen science. No experience or education is required, and any training and materials will be provided. Data collection requires the volunteer to stand for approximately 10 minutes, and may require some stooping or bending. Should you be available to volunteer, or would like additional information, please contact Wdn.
Cape Cod has over 20 rivers that are monitored to keep an eye on the river herring population in the area. Herring are vital to the marine ecosystem because they are at the bottom of the food chain. Therefore, they are crucial as a food source for larger fish and animals in and near the water, helping them to survive. Share this:.
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