Herring will have an easier swim, thanks to Weymouth cleanup 4-11-15

Herring will have an easier swim, thanks to Weymouth cleanup

The Patriot Ledger
By Mary Whitfill

Posted Apr. 11, 2015 at 3:39 PM

WEYMOUTH – Community volunteers and members of the Weymouth Herring Run Committee picked up trash, cut brush and widened trails to prepare for the annual surge of herring into Whitman's Pond.
The annual cleanup of Weymouth's herring run began at 8 a.m. Saturday.
"We came out to help with the herring run cleanup, and they offered us paint duty," said Hingham resident Rich Menuchi, whose 10-year-old son, Colin, is a member of Hingham's Cub Scout Pack 41. "The parents are wondering what the clothes are going to look like at the end of this, and the kids are having a great time."
Each April, thousands of herring swim from Boston Harbor up the Weymouth Back River, en route to Whitman's Pond, where they reproduce before returning to the ocean. On their way upstream, they pass through Weymouth's Jackson Square.
"This is a small piece of a bigger puzzle – it ties into our New England fishing area," said Rob Stevens, a Quincy Planning Board member and one of the volunteers Saturday. "Those of us who are showing up here are saying, 'We believe in this fish and the overall ecology of the ocean.'"
The Weymouth Herring Run Committee has been organizing the annual cleanup for more than 20 years. The man at the helm, George Loring, Weymouth herring run warden, was on hand Saturday to provide tools, distribute tasks and help volunteers.
"The fish are very important for us all," he said. "Not very many people eat the fish, but all the fish we eat eat them. A robust herring run will mean bigger fish, and we'll all be happier."
The task has gotten easier since the first cleanup, Loring said.
"The first year we were here we were pulling car batteries and things out of the brush; now it's more maintenance. The fish don't have a voice, and they need to be heard."
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