Connecting the people that work on the fish that connect us all.
Once a year, millions of fish swim from the open ocean back to the communities where they were born. These communities were built on fish and the connection that exists between the ocean and people. River herring seem to swim along this connection. This River Herring Network connects managers (tribal, federal, state and local) with researchers and fishermen and other stakeholders around this important fish.
The Fish that Feeds All
River herring play a key role in freshwater and marine ecosystems as food for birds, marine mammals, and other fish; bait for the lobster fishery; fertilizer for gardens; a traditional source of food for Wabanaki people; and a delicacy enjoyed across Maine’s coastal communities.
Co-Management
Fisheries collaborative management, or co-management, is a governance structure where resource users and governments share responsibility to manage a fishery. Learn more about the roles of federal, state, and municipal government, community members, and harvesters in collaboratively stewarding the river herring fishery.
River Herring Counts 2023
These data represent river herring counts across a sample of runs in Maine. This is not intended to be comprehensive, and many runs are not included. All data should be considered preliminary
Contact Us
Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries and Manomet provide backbone support for the network.
Emily Farr, Manomet | efarr@manomet.org
Mike Thalhauser, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries | mthalhauser@coastalfisheries.org