Moirs Environmental Dialogues

Dr. Jamie M. Cournane talks herring and gave an excellent report to a committee of the New England Fisheries Management Council in Portsmouth. Blueback herring and alewives are river herring. They are anadromous, ascending rivers to reproduce. These fish school with similar-sized euryhaline fish that spawn in estuaries, Atlantic herring, shad and menhaden. River herring spend many years at sea feeding on zooplankton. Plankton migrates vertically through the ocean, up during night, down during the day. Currents move fish and forage food horizontally creating a merry-go-round of fishing opportunities. Jamie mapped hot spots of river herring bycatch by trawlers and seiners that target Atlantic herring. Where fish are more likely to be found during specific months of the year was charted. Fisheries managers can use this spatial/depth/time information to better manage for survival of river herring. Also told is how one became a marine biologist and what we can do to help river herring.