New Approaches for Rangewide Conservation of River Herring

Over the past 15 years river herring populations have decreased in many watersheds and recovery has been sporadic across the species’ range.  In response, several states closed river herring harvest, and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) mandated closures coastwide with exceptions for states with approved sustainable fishery plans. In August 2013, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found that listing river herring under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted but also committed to some immediate steps including addressing information gaps and expanding collaborations.  NMFS and ASMFC are leading diverse partners and utilizing their expertise in the development and implementation of a dynamic conservation plan for river herring that identifies key research needs  and conservation efforts rangewide, tracks project implementation, and monitors the progress of restoring these important species.  Given the many threats that river herring face across their complex life cycle, conservation must be holistic, and coordination is essential.  In response to the data-poor status of river herring, new collaborations among state and federal agencies, academic researchers, ngo’s, municipalities and others have arisen, leading to numerous successes such as adoption of new technologies, increasing innovation in monitoring techniques, and development of new metrics to monitor or predict abundance.