Research

Publications

Synthesis Papers

Hare, J. A., Borggaard, D. L., Alexander, M. A., Bailey, M. M., Bowden, A. A., Damon-Randall, K., Didden, J. T., Hasselman, D. J., Kerns, T., McCrary, R., McDermott, S., Nye, J. A., Pierce, J., Schultz, E. T., Scott, J. D., Starks, C., Sullivan, K., & Beth Tooley, M. (2021). A Review of River Herring Science in Support of Species Conservation and Ecosystem Restoration. 

Synthesizes current knowledge of river herring, with an emphasis on identification of threats, discussion of recent research and management actions, and identification of research needs.

Hayden, A., Steinman, M., & Gorich, R. (2019). Up and up: River Herring in Eastern Maine. Downeast Fisheries Partnership.

An update on the status of river herring runs in eastern Maine, including the value of river herring and some of the many projects underway to restore access to their historic spawning habitat.

Cultural Importance of River Herring

Bassett, E. (2015). Cultural Importance of River Herring to the Passamaquoddy People. Sipayik Environmental Department. 

For over twelve thousand years River Herring (Alewife and Blueback Herring) have migrated from the sea by the millions to spawn in the upper headwaters of the St. Croix River Watershed. Without this fish the Passamaquoddy People would not have survived. This paper is intended to explain the cultural importance of river herring from the Passamaquoddy perspective. 

Life History and Population Ecology

Davis, J. P., & Schultz, E. T. (2006). Assessment of Anadromous Alewife and Blueback Herring Populations in Connecticut Coastal Streams and Connecticut River Tributaries. 

Davis, J. P., & Schultz, E. T. (2009). Temporal Shifts in Demography and Life History of an Anadromous Alewife Population in Connecticut. 

Recent alewife runs at Bride Brook featured lower abundance and younger, smaller fish, indicating a shift in life history. The results of this study suggest recent increases in predatory pressure or bycatch mortality as promising hypotheses that merit further investigation.

Durbin, A. G., Nixon, S. W., & Oviatt, C. A. (1979). Effects of the Spawning Migration of the Alewife, Alosa Pseudoharengus, on Freshwater Ecosystems.

Alewives contribute significant nutrient inputs to freshwater systems, increasing primary production and supporting insect and benthic invertebrates. 

Gahagan, B. I., Gherard, K. E., & Schultz, E. T. (2010). Environmental and Endogenous Factors Influencing Emigration in Juvenile Anadromous Alewives. 

Pulses of juvenile alewife migration were associated with precipitation events, decreases in water temperature, and increases in stream discharge. Migrating juveniles were, on average, larger, older, faster-growing, and in better condition than nonmigrating juveniles. 

Kellogg, R. L. (1982). Temperature Requirements for the Survival and Early Development of the Anadromous Alewife. 

McBride, M. C., Hasselman, D. J., Willis, T. V., Palkovacs, E. P., & Bentzen, P. (2015). Influence of stocking history on the population genetic structure of anadromous alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Maine rivers. 

McCartin, K., Jordaan, A., Sclafani, M., Cerrato, R., & Frisk, M. G. (2019). A New Paradigm in Alewife Migration: Oscillations between Spawning Grounds and Estuarine Habitats. 

Nelson, G. A., Gahagan, B. I., Armstrong, M. P., Jordaan, A., & Bowden, A. (2020). A life cycle simulation model for exploring causes of population change in Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). 

Ogburn, M. B., Hasselman, D. J., Schultz, T. F., & Palkovacs, E. P. (2017). Genetics and Juvenile Abundance Dynamics Show Congruent Patterns of Population Structure for Depleted River Herring Populations in the Upper Chesapeake Bay. 

Genetic analysis of river herring in the Chesapeake Bay found at least two genetically distinguishable groups of spawning populations for alewives, and at least three for blueback herring, which should be considered separately for conservation and management. 

Palkovacs, E. P., Hasselman, D. J., Argo, E. E., Gephard, S. R., Limburg, K. E., Post, D. M., Schultz, T. F., & Willis, T. V. (2014). Combining genetic and demographic information to prioritize conservation efforts for anadromous alewife and blueback herring. 

Using population genetic data and demographic information, three distinct stocks of alewife and four stocks of blueback herring were identified along the Atlantic coast. The most severe population declines have occurred for populations in the Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic Stocks. 

Reid, K., Carlos Garza, J., Gephard, S. R., Caccone, A., Post, D. M., & Palkovacs, E. P. (2020). Restoration-mediated secondary contact leads to introgression of alewife ecotypes separated by a colonial-era dam. 

Reid, K., Palkovacs, E. P., Hasselman, D. J., Baetscher, D., Kibele, J., Gahagan, B., Bentzen, P., McBride, M. C., & Garza, J. C. (2018). Comprehensive evaluation of genetic population structure for anadromous river herring with single nucleotide polymorphism data.

Rosset, J., Roy, A. H., Gahagan, B. I., Whiteley, A. R., Armstrong, M. P., Sheppard, J. J., & Jordaan, A. (2017). Temporal Patterns of Migration and Spawning of River Herring in Coastal Massachusetts. 

Stevens, J. R., Saunders, R., & Duffy, W. (2021). Evidence of Life Cycle Diversity of River Herring in the Penobscot River Estuary, Maine. 

Turner, S. M., & Limburg, K. E. (2016). Juvenile river herring habitat use and marine emigration trends: Comparing populations. 

Turner, S. M., Limburg, K. E., & Palkovacs, E. P. (2015). Can different combinations of natural tags identify river herring natal origin at different levels of stock structure?

Combining otolith chemistry and genetics can help trace river herring in marine bycatch back to its river of origin.

Webb, A. E. (2021). Juvenile alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) feeding habits, movement and residency in a northern temperate estuary.

Wynne, M. L. P., Wilson, K. A., & Limburg, K. E. (2015). Retrospective examination of habitat use by blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) using otolith microchemical methods. 

Coastal Food Webs and Interactions

Bethoney, N. D., Stokesbury, K. D. E., Schondelmeier, B. P., Hoffman, W. S., & Armstrong, M. P. (2014). Characterization of River Herring Bycatch in the Northwest Atlantic Midwater Trawl Fisheries. 

Cournane, J. M., Kritzer, J. P., & Correia, S. J. (2013). Spatial and temporal patterns of anadromous alosine bycatch in the US Atlantic herring fishery. 

Dias, B. S., Frisk, M. G., & Jordaan, A. (2019). Opening the tap: Increased riverine connectivity strengthens marine food web pathways. 

This study highlights the benefits of increased connectivity between freshwater and ocean ecosystems, including the significant role that anadromous forage fish could play in improving specific fisheries, including Atlantic cod. 

Dias, B. S., Frisk, M. G., & Jordaan, A. (2021). Contrasting fishing effort reduction and habitat connectivity as management strategies to promote alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) recovery using an ecosystem model. 

Recovery of anadromous forage fish through increased connectivity would build ecosystem resilience to climate, fisheries, and other perturbations. 

Hasselman, D. J., Anderson, E. C., Argo, E. E., Bethoney, N. D., Gephard, S. R., Post, D. M., Schondelmeier, B. P., Schultz, T. F., Willis, T. V., & Palkovacs, E. P. (2015). Genetic stock composition of marine bycatch reveals disproportional impacts on depleted river herring genetic stocks. 

Bycatch of alewives and blueback herring in the southern New England Atlantic herring fishery may be negatively impacting river herring recovery efforts. 

McDermott, S. P., Bransome, N. C., Sutton, S. E., Smith, B. E., Link, J. S., & Miller, T. J. (2015). Quantifying alosine prey in the diets of marine piscivores in the Gulf of Maine: Alosine prey in marine piscivores. 

Alewife, blueback herring, and American shad were found in the diets of common marine piscivores in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, with prey consumption concentrated in near-coastal waters.

Scopel, L. C., Diamond, A. W., Kress, S. W., Hards, A. R., & Shannon, P. (2018). Seabird diets as bioindicators of Atlantic herring recruitment and stock size: A new tool for ecosystem-based fisheries management. 

Smith, K. M., Byron, C. J., & Sulikowski, J. A. (2016). Modeling Predator–Prey Linkages of Diadromous Fishes in an Estuarine Food Web. 

Turner, S. M., Hare, J. A., Richardson, D. E., & Manderson, J. P. (2017). Trends and Potential Drivers of Distribution Overlap of River Herring and Commercially Exploited Pelagic Marine Fishes on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf. 

Willis, T. V., Wilson, K. A., Alexander, K. E., & Leavenworth, W. B. (2013). Tracking cod diet preference over a century in the northern Gulf of Maine: Historic data and modern analysis.

Threats

Lynch, P. D., Nye, J. A., Hare, J. A., Stock, C. A., Alexander, M. A., Scott, J. D., Curti, K. L., & Drew, K. (2015). Projected ocean warming creates a conservation challenge for river herring populations. 

Climate change is expected to reduce suitable habitat for river herring across the US Atlantic coast, and alter the marine distribution of both alewives and blueback herring.

Zydlewski, J., Stich, D. S., Roy, S., Bailey, M., Sheehan, T., & Sprankle, K. (2021). What Have We Lost? Modeling Dam Impacts on American Shad Populations Through Their Native Range. 

Monitoring, Citizen Science. and Sampling Methods

Bieluch, K. H., Willis, T., Smith, J., & Wilson, K. A. (2017). The Complexities of Counting Fish: Engaging Citizen Scientists in Fish Monitoring. 

Lipsky, C., Saunders, R., Stevens, J., O’Malley, M., & Music, P. (2019). Developing sampling strategies to assess the Penobscot River estuary (2010-2013). 

Nelson, G. A. (2006). A Guide to Statistical Sampling for the Estimation of River Herring Run Size Using Visual Counts. Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Technical Report Series.

Wynne, M. P., Clarke, G. A., Saunders, R., Sheehan, T., Collins, M., & Royte, J. (2016). Penobscot I: Monitoring the Penobscot River Restoration Project: Baseline Data to Inform Ecosystem Response.