July 10, 2013 — When it comes to commercial fishing, the little fish are just as important as the big ones. It’s the baitfish—smaller species like river herring and Atlantic herring—that support the entire commercial fishing industry. But baitfish stocks are dwindling. If these stocks don’t rebound, not only will fishermen be out of bait, they also may be out of fish.
Locals Notice Steep Decline
Buddy Vanderhoop has managed the Wampanoag River Herring Run on Matha's Vineyard between Menemsha Pond and Squibnocket Pond for more than 35 years. He's watched the river herring population dwindle. He says as of nine years ago, the Wampanoag took about 40,000 pounds of river herring a week from the run each spring and let over 400,000 pounds a week swim through to Squibnocket to spawn. These days, only about 10,000 fish total run up, and there's a statewide moratorium on catching and selling river herring.
"River herring" is a term applied collectively to alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis). River herring numbers in many runs have declined by as much as 95 percent since 2000. In 2006 they were designated a species of concern by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
River Herring Common By-catch in Atlantic Herring Fishery
When it comes to fishing, river herring and Atlantic Herring are linked. They're different species—with different lifecycles—but Atlantic Herring Populations are in much better shape. But during the winter, the two species mix at sea, making it almost impossible to target one species without enormous by-catch on the other.
There's a huge industry targeting Atlantic Herring. The boats are called mid-water trawlers, and they often team up and drag a net between them for a practice called pair-trawling. The lastest numbers from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission show that on average from 2005 to 2010, over a million pounds of river herring were taken each year as by-catch.
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