This year the volunteer Wellfleet herring counters included even more enthusiastic people than last year, gratefully coordinated, again, by Barbara Brennessel, with Friends of Herring River’s (FHR) Science Advisory Group and Wellfleet Conservation Commission. This group of hearty volunteers counts river herring daily during the annual migration from April through June. For the past 15 years, FHR and these dedicated folks have participated in this citizen science initiative led by the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC). APCC works with 16 organizations in 13 towns to monitor 17 different herring runs across the Cape.
Adult herring that swim under Chequessett Neck Road in Wellfleet are counted as they migrate upriver in the Herring River to freshwater spawning ponds. Volunteers visually count the fish during scheduled shifts at a designated location. Then, the counts are submitted to the MA Division of Marine Fisheries, which provides the statistics for the visual herring count.
In 2024, 19,781 herring were counted within Wellfleet’s Herring River, compared to 65,529 in 2023. The statistical counts in Wellfleet vary quite a bit yearly, as shown in the figure below. Many factors potentially affect the count each year, and while there is not yet a full or conclusive explanation, in Wellfleet, the Duck Harbor overwash may have changed flow velocity in areas near the spawning ponds, and Atlantic trawler herring bycatch is notable.
The 2024 Cape Cod herring monitoring key findings were reported by Restoration Ecologist Mike Palmer of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod:
- Monitoring effort: In 2024, more than 6,600 observations were collected by over 500 volunteers across Cape Cod. The number of volunteers in 2024 exceeded the previous year.
- The raw data: Over 54,000 returning herring were observed at 19 sites. The overall number of observed herring across all sites declined compared to 2023.
- Run size (herring count) indices: The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries uses the raw observations to calculate run size indices using a mathematical model. The model accounts for the number and timing of observations and provides a relative index of population trends over time. While six monitored runs experienced increases over 2023 run estimates, the median percent change across all Cape Cod runs was -28%, indicative of overall declines in 2024 relative to 2023.
A complete record of this year’s findings can be found here. |
