Mass Environmental Police

 Call: 800-632-8075

  Boston Office: 617-626-1650

  Westboro Office: 508-366-6537

  Hingham Office: 781-740-1163

Please follow these guidelines for reporting a fish kill event:

1. Incidences should be reported to the local herring warden and/or natural resource officer. Information to be reported to the warden/NRO includes date, time, location and species. The warden/NRO can then visit the location of the reported incident to verify that a kill has occurred and the species in question are river herring. 

2. Upon verification, the warden/NRO should contact the Division of Marine Fisheries. Information to be reported includes date, time, location, species, an estimate of the number dead and their condition, as well as info on any possible contributing factors (i.e. low water levels, pollution, obstructions to passage, etc.). DMF personnel will be dispatched to respond to the incident and the warden/NRO are encouraged to meet up with DMF personnel to provide additional information required by the fish kill response protocol.

 NOTE: Wardens/NRO's should be able to properly identify both juvenile and adult river herring as well as other members of the herring family (i.e. shads, Atlantic herring). It would also be helpful to be able to identify Atlantic menhaden as well. In the case of civil and/or criminal violations, wardens/NRO's should also have access to contact numbers for their local Environmental Law Enforcement officer(s).

If possible, please take photos of the fish kill to send to DMF.  Often times when DMF personnel receive a fish kill report and go to investigate, some time has passed and fish are often severely decayed or eaten by wildlife. Having pictures at the time of initial investigation is helpful to accurately ID the fish. as well as their condition.