Spatial and Temporal Distribution of River Herring in the Nearshore Gulf of Maine: 2001 - 2013

Several large river restoration projects in Maine have focused on increasing river herring production, with the assumption that these fish would provide nearshore forage for potentially recovering groundfish. The ME – NH Inshore Groundfish Trawl Survey provides a unique opportunity to assess the nearshore seasonal distribution and abundance of river herring over the time period of both river restoration projects. The Survey is a stratified random design with a fixed component and a target of 115 sampling stations distributed across 4 depth strata with trawls conducted in May and October, 2001 - 2013. Juvenile alewife have been captured throughout the study area in May, and were more likely to be inshore and in bays in October. Adult alewife have been captured in May throughout the study area in small numbers, with the largest aggregations near river mouths. In contrast, adult alewife were rarely captured in bays in October, and the largest aggregations were caught further south. Blueblack herring followed similar patterns. Overall abundances of both river herring species have been variable but not decreasing over time. Results suggest that juvenile river herring are using Maine’s nearshore throughout much of their life and should be available for nearshore predators.