Atlantic herring are food for whales and dolphins ― and the larger fish we love to eat ― tuna, haddock, codfish and striped bass. But an industrial-scale fishing fleet is jeopardizing this key resource with impacts to the ecosystem.
Herring Alliance is working to protect marine wildlife and the ecosystem. Join our efforts.
Predators are an important factor that is often overlooked in fisheries management. Several methods are available today to incorporate predators into management models, a practical step toward ecosystem-based managment.
Watch this new animation from The Pew Charitable Trusts to learn more!
As river herring make their way up our coastal rivers to spawn, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) is revising rules that apply to river herring catch. The state is taking public comment through this coming Friday, April 26. In state waters, no one has been allowed to catch or possess river herring for eight years. However, river herring are caught as bycatch in federal waters, by industrial vessels targeting Atlantic herring.
From whales to striped bass, important marine animals eat smaller fish and organisms to survive. These prey, or “forage fish,” in the food web are critical to a healthy ocean ecosystem. But people are not doing enough to ensure the abundance of prey species to feed valuable fish populations and marine life.
The need to protect this basic prey, which ranges from mackerel and menhaden to herring and anchovies, is growing more urgent. Populations of some of these small fish have plummeted. Millions are scooped up by industrial fishing gear and ground into fertilizer and pet food. Millions more are caught by accident in trawler nets.
Check out this new fact sheet from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
