|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Our attempts to restore the herring fishery to the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord (SuAsCo) Rivers achieved a milestone this past summer. After releasing about 7000 spawning adult herring into the SuAsCo Rivers each of the past five years and not having detected any evidence of reproduction of juveniles, two electrofishing expeditions last summer finally found hundreds and then thousands of juvenile herring in Heard Pond in Wayland. Now we know that at least some of the adults are staying to spawn rather than rejecting this strange river and heading back down to the Atlantic Ocean. The adults were taken from the Nemasket River which is their native spawning river. We do not yet know whether the juveniles have been successful in returning to the ocean in the fall.
The US Fish and Wildlife herring and shad restoration program can involve a great variety of tasks; many interests and skills can contribute. In April or May adult spawning fish must be netted and loaded into the tank trucks. During spring and fall, fish ladders and dams must be monitored. During late summer and fall, water temperatures and water levels must be measured, recorded, and reported. In late summer, pond outlets must be kept clear of vegetation. Articles and press releases must be written. Those interested in participating should contact Kristin McCauley, Project Specialist, Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust, at 1-978-934-0030, email kmccauley@lowelllandtrust.org, or L. Mike Meixsell at 1-978-443-6959, or Grov Wadman at 1-978-443-9320, both in Sudbury.
We are hoping to transfer again this year, probably on April 18-20, depending on the weather. Regardless of the eventual outcome of the program, it is always inspiring to observe this natural phenomena occurring during several weeks in the spring. Moreover, it is a privilege to be a part of the effort to restore a fishery which has not been seen since before Thoreau's time. The following is a brief description of how this program came into existence over a period of decades through the efforts of private citizens, environmental groups, and state and federal agency personnel. It also illustrates the types of tasks and activities to which prospective participants can contribute.
Some of us have been involved in the prelude to the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord (SuAsCo) Rivers herring and shad fisheries restoration since the 1980's. At that time the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) proposed diverting a large portion of the Sudbury River to Boston for their water supply. The environmental impact on the river would have been significant. As a result of the work of a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and local legistlators, two laws were enacted by the Massachusetts General Court providing some protecting for the river. One limited the amount of water which could be removed from the river; the other regulated the transfer of water from one river basin to another. The CAC findings were relevant, perhaps crucial, to any future herring and shad fisheries restoration.
Several years later, through the efforts of Allen Morgan of the Sudbury Valley Trustees and Congressman Chet Atkins and many citizens, additional protection was provided when the US Congress designated a large stretch of the Sudbury and Concord Rivers as Wild and Scenic Rivers. During this time, none of us expected to see the restoration of the fisheries during our lifetime. These measures were being implemented with the hope that some future generation would accomplish the restoration. Nevertheless, we would remind people now and then, during environmental meetings and conferences, of the possibility. And the SuAsCo Watershed Association newsletter might include an article on shad restoration and always included the motto "Bring Back the Shad".
Then during an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conference at the Mount Hermon campus on the Connecticut River, one of the speakers was the former state official in charge of the fish passage facilities on the Merrimac River. He suggested that we contact his successor, Bill Estes, which we did. Bill invited my wife and me on a tour of the Lawrence and the Lowell fish passage facilities on the Merrimac River. However, the state was not pursuing the restoration of anadromous (fish which spawn in fresh water and mature in salt water) fisheries in the SuAsCo Rivers basin. And we mistakenly assumed that the USF&W Laconia Office in New Hampshire was primarily involved in salmon restoration. (We were to learn later that they were also restoring river herring, American shad, and other species.)
Still later, about 1998, during the first annual "River Visions" conference conducted by the newly formed SuAsCo Watershed Community Council, I mentioned shad restoration during an announcement. Later, during a recess or workshop, a stranger, Doug Smithwood, introduced himself. Doug was from the USF&W Service's Laconia Office of Fishery Assistance. He was interested in the suitability of the SuAsCo rivers for herring. We discussed the possibility with Mike Flemming, who was with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Department of Environmental Management (EOEA DEM).
Although the Sudbury and Concord Rivers seemed to be suitable for herring, there was the problem of finding a source for the large number of spawning herring (about 7000) required each year for a period of at least five or more years. Eventually Doug found the only available source, the Middleboro-Lakeville Fisheries Commission fish ladder on the Nemasket River in southern Massachusetts. He could provide a tank truck for transport, but funds were needed to pay the permit fee and help was needed to net the fish and load the truck, which would have to make about five trips over several days. The SuAsCo Watershed Association guaranteed the funds and several of us including Mike Fleming and Nancy Bryant, Executive Director, SuAsCo Watershed Community Council prepared publicity and press releases soliciting volunteers. Ken Reback and Phil Brady from Massachusetts Fish & Wildlife also assisted. Funds were provided by the Boston Chapter of Trout Unlimited, John Salemi, president, and the Sharpe Family Foundation of Concord. Dr. Ray Walther volunteered to be the project liaison for Trout Unlimited and has since been assisting with both the transfer and publicity.
That first year, when we arrived early on a cool morning in April, at the Middleboro fish ladder, volunteers were already arriving--some from as far as Boston and beyond. During the day the crowd increased, including both private citizens and agency personnel taking a vacation day to help. Tom Brochu, Middleboro Fishery Commissioner, and other members were enthusiastic and eager to help. The commission later waived the permit fee. It became clear that publicity and volunteer coordination would remain an important task.
The following year, Mike Fleming secured an intern, Amy Roman, from Brandeis University to help, but we needed office space, a computer, and a phone. We contacted the Great Meadows Refuge and they were happy to provide facilities, and staff member Stephanie Koch served as Amy's mentor. That was a great help but we had another problem. Although we had succeeded in transferring herring from the Nemasket River to the Sudbury and Concord Rivers, we had no practical way of monitoring the migration of the adult and juvenile herring back to the ocean or of monitoring the return of the matured juveniles after they had spent about five years in the ocean. Residents of the downstream Lowell and Billerica areas were needed to help with that monitoring.
As it turned out, Stephen Conant, president of the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust (LPCT) was helping with the transfers and soon their Executive Director, Jane Calvin emailed me complaining indignantly about not being apprised of the restoration program. Jane was duly apprised and she secured the services of Kristin McCauley to manage the activities downstream. Kristin has dramatically enlarged the scope of the restoration program, recruiting volunteer monitors, procuring equipment and supplies, arranging training workshops, and organizing and coordinating our activities. Karen Pelto, Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement (now Dept. of Fish & Game)/DEM Riverways Program, has also been helping with the workshops. With Kristin's management, we now have a relatively stable and dependable organizational structure.
During the spring of 2003, Grove Wadman, Sudbury, invited me to accompany him and Doug on a tour of the Sudbury River to explore possible additional river access locations and potential shad spawning habitat downstream of the Great Falls in Saxonville. We also visited Heard Pond, Wayland, since I had been urging Doug to dump a truckload of herring into this pond, but Doug was still concerned about their access to the river. And we visited Lake Cochituate to assess its suitability for herring restoration. The question there is whether the park officials could manage the lake discharge so as to allow the juvenile herring to migrate down Cochituate Brook to the Sudbury River in the fall.
During 2003 and 2004, we did transfer two truckloads of herring into Heard Pond. USF&W also constructed an aluminum frame and fabric net cage which they placed in Heard Pond to hold six adult herring so that we could monitor them and determine whether they would succeed in spawning. My wife and I monitored the cage but never detected the presence of any eggs. However, later in the summer, Doug and Joe McKeon, Director of the USF&W Laconia Office brought the electrofishing boat to the pond on two occasions and finally found hundreds and later thousands of juvenile herring as well as adult herring. This was a milestone accomplishment since it confirmed for the first time that the adults were indeed spawning and were successfully reproducing. Now we needed confirmation that the juveniles would migrate downstream in the fall to the ocean. And for that, the monitoring team in Lowell and Billerica had to be alerted when the juveniles would be leaving Heard Pond. This required monitoring of the water level and temperature by Grove Wadman, me, and our wives, to alert the downstream monitors in Lowell and Billerica. The juveniles should begin leaving when the temperature drops to about 59 degrees Fahrenheit and there is sufficient rain to raise the river water level and flow rate. No juvenile out-migration was observed; however, they could have easily passed without detection.
Also last year, 2004, we had the need of a fast response team to help transfer herring and shad from the Lawrence fish passage facility on the Merrimac River. Because of the weather, we would not know until the night before or on the morning of the transfer day, whether the herring and shad would be moving. Grov Wadman recruited a willing group from the Friends of the USF&W Assabet River Refuge. It included Frank Laak, Jan Wright, Alan Orth, Dave Stuart, Dave Robertson, and Mike Meixsell. On two occasions, we arrived at the facility and could not transfer fish--once because the fish elevator had broken and the other time because the river flow too great. This group which has about 30 miles of driving each way, must be commended for their commitment and perserverence.
Although progress has been good, the future of this herring and shad restoration program is uncertain, not because of natural causes but because of federal and state budget and staff cutbacks. The USF&W Laconia Office has only two professional staff remaining and they have been moved to Nashua. The SuAsCo interagency Watershed Team has been disbanded due to administrative priorities and state reorganization efforts, and Mike Flemming has been reassigned to other duties. Without the support of these professionals and their resources, the SuAsCo fisheries restoration program would have to be abandoned and the volunteer capabilities lost. Nevertheless, we are again planning to transfer herring to the Sudbury and Concord Rivers from the Nemasket River in Middleboro on April 18--20, if the weather and the herring cooperate. Prospective volunteers should call to confirm the dates with Kristin McCauley at 1-978-934-003.