Connecting the people that work on the fish that connect us all.

Once a year, millions of fish swim from the open ocean back to the communities where they were born.  These communities were built on fish and the connection that exists between the ocean and people.  River herring seem to swim along this connection.  This River Herring Network connects managers (tribal, federal, state and local) with researchers and fishermen and other stakeholders around this important fish. 

The Fish that Feeds All

River herring play a key role in freshwater and marine ecosystems as food for birds, marine mammals, and other fish; bait for the lobster fishery; fertilizer for gardens; a traditional source of food for Wabanaki people; and a delicacy enjoyed across Maine’s coastal communities. 

Co-Management

Fisheries collaborative management, or co-management, is a governance structure where resource users and governments share responsibility to manage a fishery. Learn more about the roles of federal, state, and municipal government, community members, and harvesters in collaboratively stewarding the river herring fishery.

Count 2024 River Herring Runs Online

Stewards of river herring throughout the Gulf of Maine are seeking help to count fish - and you can help from anywhere with internet! Underwater imagery and crowd sourcing technology has allowed video count systems to emerge and help monitor the populations of river herring runs. The following links are three rivers in Maine and Massachusetts that have video count systems, and need your help counting:

Count river herring in the Pennamaquan River, Pembroke, ME

Count river herring in Town Brook in Plymouth, MA

Count river herring in the Mystic River in MA

  • Tools for Communities

    How to start an alewife committee and count your alewife run, community science tools, and more.

  • Research

    Ongoing river herring research and publications.

  • Restoration

    Importance of river restoration, restoration projects, and how to get involved.

  • Co-Management

    Learn more about co-management, where it takes place and what it is, and examples of community leadership.

  • Run Counts

    Learn more about river herring run counts, monitoring for harvest, fish monitoring methods, and more.

  • Resources

    Find a river herring run, more information about river herring, management, and tools and data.

  • Stay Involved

    Interested in staying connected to the Gulf of Maine River Herring Network? Learn how to stay involved.

Contact Us

Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries and Manomet provide backbone support for the network. 
Emily Farr, Manomet | efarr@manomet.org 
Mike Thalhauser, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries |
mthalhauser@coastalfisheries.org