Each spring there is migration of river herring (alewives and blueback herring) from the ocean to the inland waters of their birth is as much a part of New Englands landscape as sugar maples and white church spires. But now the fisheries experts worry because the industrial-scale fishing off the shores threatens the very survival of the fish. Donald St. Pierre, Chathams Herring Warden, informed that the river herring populations in the bay state rivers are at critically low levels.
He states that the threat from offshore midwater trawl fisheries can no longer be overlooked. According to him a legislation is currently being considered on Beacon Hill that would give fisheries managers the tools they need to effectively manage the fisheries impacted by midwater trawling.
It is told that in the past, dams that block the passage of river herring, lost habitat, and pollution were largely blamed for the decline of the fish, but a recent coastwide crash due to expansion of the midwater fleet bring the population of the species to the brink of collapse. It is said that the full impact the ships have on river herring is not clear, though evidence suggests it is substantial.
It is fact that the river herring are very threatened Massachusetts and three other states that they banned the taking of river herring from waters in their jurisdictions. But this could not be enough a tough legislation is needed at the earliest.
