River Herring Troubles in the Gulf of Maine & Northwestern Atlantic Ocean

Dr. Jamie M. Cournane talks with Rob about herring. Jamie gave an excellent report in December on herring to a committee of the New England Fisheries Management Council in Portsmouth. Blueback herring and alewives are riverherring. They are anadromous, ascending rivers to reproduce. These fish school with similar-sized euryhaline fish that spawn in estuaries - Atlantic herring, shad and menhaden. Riverherring spend many years at sea feeding on zooplankton. Plankton migrates vertically through the ocean, up during night, down during the day. Currents move fish and forage food horizontally creating a merry-go-round of fishing opportunities. Jamie mapped "hot spots" of riverherring bycatch by trawlers and seiners that target Atlantic herring. Where fish are more likely to be found during specific months of the year was charted. Fisheries managers can use this spatial/depth/time information to better manage for survival of riverherring. Also told is how one became a marine biologist and what we can do to help riverherring. Join with us in speaking out for river herring to the New England Fisheries Management Council. Join with the Ocean River Institute; add your words to ours as to why river herring are important to you. For further information and to view our letter please go to: http://www.oceanriver.org/HerringAmend4.php