Herring Aid: State Crew Clears Fish Run

CHATHAMPORT – Every spring, herring make a perilous journey from the ocean to local ponds to spawn, facing a gauntlet of striped bass, gulls, osprey and other predators. The fish that visit Lovers Lake and Stillwater Pond have faced another big challenge: collapsed portions of the fish ladder that help them climb their way to fresh water. A crew from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries donned boots and went to work last week to get the waterway ready for next season.

The herring swim from Ryder’s Cove, under Route 28 and up a small stream to Stillwater Pond; some travel farther up to Lovers Lake via a stream under Old Comers Road. To climb in elevation, the fish rely on partial obstructions of the stream that cause calm backwaters where they can push through the rapids upstream. The portion of the stream between Ryder’s Cove and Stillwater Pond includes four man-made obstructions, or weirs, that needed repair or replacement.

Crews from DMF’s fishways crew provided the labor, while the town of Chatham pitched in a small amount for building materials. Working most of last week, the crew installed or repaired two concrete weirs and two others made of bundled plant material known as fiber rolls. Supervisor Brad Chase of Harwich, the state’s diadromous fisheries project leader, said the partnership between the state and the town helps ensure that herring stocks remain at healthy levels.

Silt from the edges of the stream has also caused shoaling, and workers used shovels and plenty of elbow grease to move the mud back to the banks of the stream, holding it in place with additional fiber rolls. Native shrubs and plants like wild blueberry have been planted on the banks and fiber rolls, and while the work remains delicate now, it will stabilize nicely as the plants take root, Chase said.

Chase praised Chatham’s herring warden, David Peterson, who learned the job after years working with retired warden Don St. Pierre. Peterson has spent recent years clearing away vegetation from the stream banks to keep the water flowing.

“That collaboration has helped open up the channel,” Chase said.

Last week’s work will clearly improve the fish passage, but the narrow culvert under Route 28 remains a challenge, he said. Herring tend to shy away from the small pipe, causing them to loiter just outside the herring run where they’re targeted by predators. “A lot of fish then die,” he said. Work at Route 28 is more complex from an engineering standpoint and because the roadway is owned by the state.

While there is no automatic fish counter at Chatham’s herring run, St. Pierre reported generally seeing more fish in recent years than before his retirement. A population decline was first observed locally in 2000, and a statewide moratorium on harvesting was put in place in 2006. With numbers having recovered somewhat, the state is relaxing its rules and communities with larger herring runs, like Harwich, are considering whether to allow regulated harvesting once again.

There are no plans to allow harvesting to resume in Chatham or most other small herring runs. Though larger runs attract more spawning fish, small fishways are still ecologically important, Chase said. Lovers Lake and Stillwater Pond provide 26 acres of fresh water, and with a well-maintained run, they could host some 30,000 herring each spring.

“That’s many millions of juveniles,” he said.

Chatham Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon thanked the state team for making long-needed improvements to the run, which has had various repairs and improvements “patched together for years,” he said. Keon also thanked the private landowners in the area for allowing crews access to the stream. “They’re incredibly supportive, and they have been over many years,” he said.