Diadromous Fish Monitoring
Each spring many streams and rivers in Eastern Maine host spectacular river herring spawning runs.
Hundreds of thousands of Blueback Herring and Alewives bring much-needed nutrients to the human and natural communities that have fasted through the long winter.
River herring—like salmon—need healthy, connected rivers to thrive. Alewives seek out lakes and ponds for spawning while Blueback Herring use the moving waters of small streams and rivers.
Collectively the migrating adult fish bring in crowds of eagles, osprey, cormorants, bears, raccoons, and anyone else looking for fish fresh from the ocean. The abundance lasts only a few weeks before the adults return to saltwater and leave their millions of progeny behind to be fed by and fed on in the freshwater world.