RIVER HERRING PROGRAM

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RIVER HERRING PROGRAM

River Herring

NORTHEAST REGION

Assessing Sustainability of Maine River Herring Runs

Maine Department of Marine Resources

Maine

Award Amount ... $400,483 Grantee Match ... $415,340 Total Project ... $815,823

Collect river herring population data on numerous rivers in order to create management and harvest models to help ensure the sustainability of the fishery. Project will also hire an education specialist to work with inland communities to help gain acceptance for reintroduction of river herring.

River Herring Bycatch Avoidance in Small Mesh Fisheries (MA)

University of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

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Identification and Modeling of Alewife Stock Structure

Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island

Use otolith structure analysis to define alewife stock structure in Maine watersheds. Project will also use simulation modeling to examine the leading hypotheses on stock structure and mixing of alewife.

East Branch Penobscot River Habitat Connectivity (ME)

Atlantic Salmon Federation (U.S.), Inc.

Maine

Award Amount ... $ 40,000 Grantee Match ... $ 80,000 Total Project ... $120,000

Prioritize stream barrier removals and work with large private landowners to implement properly designed road-stream crossing projects in Maine. Project will identify river herring restoration opportunities in the the East Branch Penobscot River watershed.

Damariscotta Mills "Lower Middle" Fish Ladder Restoration

Nobleboro Historical Society

Maine

Award Amount ... $ 92,505 Grantee Match ... $116,000 Total Project ... $208,505

Continue restoration of the Damariscotta Mills stone fish ladder to improve river herring passage to Damariscotta Lake in Maine. Project will rebuild the middle third poriton of the fish ladder by completing consturction of 23 pools.

Pushaw Lake Fishway (ME)

Maine

Construct a fishway at the outlet dam of Pushaw Lake, a high priority lake in Maine's Penobscot River watershed. Project will restore access to approximatly 5,000-acre of high quality alewife spawning habitat.

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River Herring Restoration in Penobscot River (ME)

Penobscot River Restoration Trust

Maine

Restore river herring and other sea-run fish to the Penobscot River by opening access at four barriers while maintaining energy. Project will remove the Veazie Dam and provide overall management and oversight support for additional Penobscot River restoration projects.

Citizen Science's Role in Sustainable River Herring Harvest

University of Southern Maine

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

Assess the accuracy of citizen science monitoring efforts in producing river herring run counts that inform management and help maintain sustainable harvests in Maine. Project will engage volunteers, coordinators, and managers to evaluate key lessons and opportunities to enhance volunteer river herring monitoring programs in New England.

Damariscotta Mills "Lower Middle" Fish Ladder Restoration - II

Nobleboro Historical Society

Maine

Finish restoration of the Damariscotta Mills stone fish ladder to improve river herring passage to Damariscotta Lake in Maine. Project will finalize construction of 30 existing pools and rebuild an additoin 16 pools to

complete the restoration of the fish ladder.

Penobscot River Herring Fishways (ME)

Maine

Construct fishways on three high priority sites to restore river herring in Maine’s Penobscot River watershed. Project will restore alewife populations to 3,496 acres of pond spawning habitat and open 36 river miles of habitat for blueback herring, Atlantic salmon, and American eel.

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Increasing Monitoring Capacity for Sustainable Harvests (ME)

Maine Department of Marine Resources

Maine

Award Amount ... $ 88,914 Grantee Match ... $103,812 Total Project ... $192,726

Utilize local trainings, online platforms, and outreach materials to engage partners and volunteers in

monitoring river herring runs in Maine. Project will provide monitoring, restoration, and technical support to towns as they evaluate the feasibility of establishing sustainable harvests.

Measuring Reproductive Success of River Herring in New England Coastal Waters

University of Massachusetts

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

Combine historic techniques and newer genetic methods to provide a more accurate and cost-effective methodology for evaluating the spawning activity and juvenile population size of river herring in key coastal waters. Project will provide novel data to enhance monitoring and population modeling of river herring and will directly support ongoing bycatch, age and growth, and productivity studies.

Improving the Operating Efficiency of Fish Ladders for River Herring Passage in the St. Croix River (ME)

Passamaquoddy Tribe - Pleasant Point

Maine

Improve monitoring and passage of alewife river herring across the Milltown Dam on the St. Croix River in Maine. Project will establish more robust and less labor-intensive monitoring techniques to establish accurate river herring run counts and will gather data on barriers to fish passage across the dam.

Increasing River Herring Monitoring and Restoration in Eastern Maine

Downeast Salmon Federation

Maine

Award Amount ... $147,830 Grantee Match ... $178,843

Total Project ... $326,673

Coordinate a comprehensive river herring monitoring and restoration program across eastern Maine. Project will develop a citizen science program to mobilize local volunteers in fisheries investigation and management by collecting long-term population and habitat data to inform municipal harvests.

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Upriver migration of adult alewife | Photo Credit: Graham Sherwood

CHESAPEAKE BAY

Imaging Sonar Run Counts of River Herring in Chesapeake Bay

Smithsonian Institution

Maryland

Develop imaging sonar tool for counting river herring in Chesapeake Bay. Project will establish scientifically rigorous run counts for alewife and blueback herring in spawning streams.

Imaging Sonar Run Counts of River Herring in Chesapeake Bay - II

Maryland

Develop a network of groups engaged in river herring research and a draft plan for monitoring spawning runs. Project will complete the development of rigorous imaging sonar method for run counts.

River Herring Spawning Run Monitoring in Chesapeake Bay (VA, MD)

Maryland, Virginia

Provide scientifically rigorous imaging sonar run counts of river herring in key Chesapeake Bay spawning streams. Project will augment run counts with watershed-scale habitat use surveys.

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Monitoring River Herring Stocks in the Pamunkey River (VA)

College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Virginia

Use sonar to monitor spawning stock of river herring in the Pamunkey River, a York River tributary. Project will provide data currently unavailable for a river of historical importance to the herring fishery in Virginia.

River Herring Spawning Run Monitoring in Chesapeake Bay - II (VA, MD)

Maryland, Virginia

Continue the fourth year of consecutive run counts on the Choptank River and establish a new run count on the Patapsco River prior to the pending Bloede Dam removal. Project will also conduct spawning habitat use

assessments in four additional watersheds, completing baseline assessments in a total of ten watersheds.

SOUTHEAST

Assessing Blueback Herring Run Counts in the Cooper River (SC)

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

South Carolina

Award Amount ... $118730 Grantee Match ... $118730 Total Project ... $237460

Support effective management of blueback herring throughout the Santee Cooper system by monitoring annual spring run counts in the Cooper River using imaging sonar. The project will provide data that will help complete the picture of blueback herring runs into the Santee Cooper System and run count data will be used to assess blueback herring population trends.

COASTWIDE

Incentive-based Tools to Revive River Herring Populations

Environmental Defense Fund, Inc.

Evaluate bycatch in the sea herring fishery and its impacts on river herring along the Atlantic Coast. Project will conduct research, technical analyses, and outreach to propose a catch share system to manage river herring bycatch mortality.

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Determining the Origins of River Herring Bycatch

Duke University and University of California – Santa Cruz

Determine the natal origins of river herring bycatch using a combination of molecular genetics and otolith geochemical markers. Project will define regional genetic stocks, as well as assess the effects of hybridization, stocking, and ocean bycatch on the conservation status of river herring species.

Identifying and Securing Key Diadromous Fish Communities

Trout Unlimited, Inc.

Conduct an assessment of Atlantic Coast watersheds for river herring and diadromous fish conservation. Project will identify and prioritize opportunities to restore and protect coastal watersheds for native diadromous fish communities from Maine to Virginia.

River Herring Restoration Needs

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Prioritize, plan, and strategize river herring needs in the Southern New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. Project will engage river herring experts and stakeholders throughout the Atlantic coast in partnership with the University of New Hampshire and The Nature Conservancy.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROGRAMS

In addition to the River Herring Program, a suite of additional grants were funded through other NFWF

programs that have contributed to significant conversation gains throughout river herring’s range.

Designing a River Herring Catch Share for the East Coast

University of New Hampshire

Fisheries Innovation Fund

Award Amount ... $142,700 Grantee Match ... $ 1,500

Total Project ... $144,200

Develop a conceptual model for the first anadromous fish catch share in the United States. Project will gather existing information to design a river herring catch share.

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Bycatch Avoidance Network for River Herring/Butterfish (NY)

Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Suffolk County

Fisheries Innovation Fund

Initiate a fleet communication system among squid fishing vessels that will report real-time observations of butterfish and river herring/shad bycatch hotspots in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Project will reduce fleet-wide bycatch to protect sensitive butterfish and river herring populations.

Incentive-based Tools to Restore River Herring in Maine

Environmental Defense Fund, Inc.

Gulf of Maine Environmental Compliance & Protection Fund

Evaluate bycatch in the sea herring fishery and its impacts on river herring in Maine. Project will conduct research, technical analyses, and outreach to propose a catch share system to manage river herring bycatch mortality.

Alewife Stock Structure in the Gulf of Maine

Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Quantify and define alewife stock structure in coastal Maine watersheds. Project will evaluate potential impact of high-mortality events, such as bycatch or oil spills, on stocks in the Gulf of Maine.

Bycatch Survey of the Atlantic Herring Bottom Trawl Fishery

Maine Department of Marine Resources

Award Amount ... $226,996 Grantee Match ... $ 15,916 Total Project ... $242,912

Expand port-side bycatch surveys with at-sea observers to document bycatch in the small mesh bottom trawl fishery targeting Atlantic herring. Project will pilot state-run at-sea observers to complement federal observers and bolster river herring bycatch monitoring in Maine.

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River Herring Bycatch Avoidance In Small Mesh Fisheries- NJ

University of Massachusetts

NJ Coastal Conservation Program - Dalnave

Develop river herring bycatch avoidance incentive systems based on models that identify and predict high concentrations of river herring. Project will help to minimize bycatch of river herring in the Atlantic herring and mackerel fisheries off the New Jersey coast.

Fish Passage Improvement on the Farmington River (CT)

Farmington River Watershed Association, Inc.

Long Island Sound Futures Fund

Finalize engineering, permitting, and contracting necessary to remove Spoonville Dam. Project will involve on-site mobilization in preparation for work in the water after July 31, 2012.

Pond Lily Dam Removal Planning and Design Project (CT)

Town of Woodbridge, Connecticut

Long Island Sound Futures Fund

Complete the planning and design work needed to remove Pond Lily Dam in the West River, New Haven, CT. Project will expand river herring passage to 1.7 river miles and to 60 acres of spawning habitat for native fish.

Gravel Run Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration (MD)

Town of Centreville, Maryland

Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants

Award Amount ... $161,731 Grantee Match ... $ 77,998 Total Project ... $239,729

Integrate floodplain management and habitat restoration in order to restore access to 13 miles of high quality habitat for herring, perch, and American eel. Project will support planning to improve fish passage in the Corsica River watershed.

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Determining the Origins of River Herring Bycatch

Duke University

Determining the Origins of River Herring Bycatch- II

RIVER HERRING PROGRAM