According to the local news agency nearly 250,000 herring pass through Weymouth every year, despite lots of difficulties. It is said that they have to swim upstream literally. The fish is said to come from the Atlantic then jump up 117 steps to get to Whitmans Pond. Only then, can they relax and lay their eggs, far from predators.
One can watch herring in South Shore brooks between April and June. They are slim, brown and oily who makes their vaunted journey. But it’s not always smooth sailing for the foot-long fish. Debris, pollution, large fishing nets and rowdy people can get in the way. George Loring, a Weymouth herring warden, said that the fish don’t have a voice, so someone needs to speak for them when things get messed up.
It is opined that locally, herring make their way via streams into ponds in Weymouth, Pembroke, Braintree and Plymouth. Preserving their habitats protects ecosystems and ensures that their aquatic predators – including swordfish and tuna – grow in numbers and wind up in local supermarkets and seafood restaurants.
Loring explained that the more herring we preserve, the bigger the school will be for predators. Loring became interested in the fish in 1988 when he volunteered with then-Weymouth warden John Smith in the annual cleanup on the first Saturday in April. It is explained that the herring “run” through the start of June in several local places, including Thomas Reading Memorial Herring Run Park on Route 14 in Pembroke, Town Brook behind the Jenney Grist Mill on Spring Lane in Plymouth, and at the intersection of Water and Commercial streets in East Weymouth.
