Page 113 - Middleborough 2024 Town Report

Middleborough/Lakeville Herring
HERRING
Fishery Committee Wardens
(Appointed by Select Board)
FISHERYWilliam Orphan, Chairman
Thomas Barron, Vice-Chairman
David Cavanaugh
Bruce Chase
COMMISSION
Cynthia Gendron, Volunteer Observer
Allin Frawley, Volunteer Observer
Ronald Burgess, Volunteer Observer
Mac Sprague, Volunteer Observer
Term Expires 2023
Term Expires 2024
Term Expires 2026
Term Expires 2024
Term Expires 2025
Term Expired 2024
Term Expires 2025
Term Expires 2024
The Nemasket River herring run is protected by seven
volunteer wardens; five from Middleborough and two from
Lakeville, who make up the voting members. We are
assisted by a number of volunteer observers. These
volunteers are vital to the protection of our herring and help
educate the public about our herring resource. Volunteers
have steadily declined since the herring catching ban in
2006. Please consider giving whatever time you can to assist
us with monitoring the river herring and meeting tourists at
the fish ladders. No experience is necessary.
saw a high of 300 to 500 in ten minutes, contrasting to past
years with 600 to 800 being normal. The highest single
count this year was 900 fish in ten minutes, when we
would usually get two or three counts in April of over 1000.
Water levels remained high in the river and ponds all
spring and summer, which certainly helped the adult
herring migrate upstream. We assume the high water also
helped the baby herring (fry) have an easier
trip from the ponds to the ocean, where they will
live for three or four years before making their first
spawning run.
The 2024 run was a bit better than the last two years.
336,880 river herring were estimated to have passed
through the Wareham Street fish ladder.
Wardens saw the first herring at Oliver Mill Park on
February 27th this year. This is the third year in a row herring
were seen in late February. There was a small push in mid
March, then almost nothing to the end of the month. There
was a very small push the first couple of days in April. The
largest push was mid April to early May (the 'traditional'
peak - although not as high as past year's peaks). The push
We networked with other herring management groups
through the River Herring Network and have two
members sitting on their board of directors. The Rhode
Island Dept. of Environmental Management asked for
2000 herring to help restock other Narragansett Bay runs.
We continued working with our Assawompset Pond
Complex partners; including the New
Bedford and Taunton water departments, SRPEDD,
the APC Management.
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