2015 Annual Meeting Report

Thank you to all who made the 2015 River Herring Network annual meeting a success! Forty eight people attended the fifth annual meeting on October 15, 2015 in Pembroke at the Public Library. Participants represented 13 towns, 2 watershed associations, 2 regional environmental non-profit groups, 3 academic institutions, 4 state agencies, and the federal agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2 programs – NOAA Fisheries Habitat Restoration, and the National Sea Grant College Program). The Pembroke Herring Fisheries Commission were excellent hosts to all who attended.

Six speakers gave presentations ranging from Division of Marine Fisheries management updates on river herring and eels, to updates on the results of volunteer river herring count programs, research going on in spawning ponds across Massachusetts, and the continuing efforts to monitor the bycatch of river herring in the Atlantic Herring fishery.

The meeting also featured a Question & Answer period with an Environmental Law Enforcement Officer, and the Assistant Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, Fisheries Biology Section.

The powerpoint presentations and photos from the meeting will be made available on the website soon. Stay tuned for updates!

-Abigail Archer