Maine Fishing Advocates Push for Federal Action to Protect River Herring as Council Delays Decision

AUGUSTA, Maine — The New England Fishery Management Council has delayed implementing new protections for river herring, frustrating Maine fishermen who say the move puts at risk decades of restoration work and millions of dollars in taxpayer investments.

The council, which sets fishing policy for federal waters off the New England coast, was required to establish new time and area closures on industrial midwater trawling by January 2027. Instead, at a meeting this week, council members pushed that deadline to April, effectively postponing any new safeguards until at least 2028.

Council leadership offered little reassurance about whether the protections would ever be finalized. According to advocates, the executive director indicated it remains uncertain whether the council will complete the work at all.

"That is unacceptable," said Rusty Taylor, executive director of the Alewife Harvesters of Maine and a Mount Desert resident. "This is not complicated. Maine's experience has already shown the path forward."

Taylor's organization represents the only organized river herring harvesters on the Atlantic Coast. For nearly two decades, Maine has maintained closures that have allowed alewife populations to recover significantly.

The Problem at Sea

Industrial midwater trawlers are the largest fishing vessels operating on the Atlantic Coast. The vessels drag nets through the water that can reach the height of a five-story building and stretch as wide as a football field. Their primary targets are Atlantic herring and mackerel, but they capture everything in their path, including substantial numbers of river herring and American shad.

Environmental advocates argue that a single tow can eliminate an entire river's spawning run, rendering useless the restoration work completed upstream.

"When alewives disappear, the effects ripple outward," Taylor explained. "All the taxpayer dollars spent restoring rivers and fish passage can be wasted in one afternoon offshore."

Maine's Success Story

Maine has invested hundreds of millions of dollars over the years removing dams, improving water quality and building fish passage structures to restore alewife runs. Since 2007, the Gulf of Maine has been closed to midwater trawlers during the critical summer months when river herring migrate.

The results have been measurable. Maine's alewife runs have rebounded, a trend that advocates attribute directly to keeping industrial trawlers away from migrating fish.

"That is not a coincidence," Taylor said. "It is proof that when you keep industrial trawlers away from migrating fish, the fish come back."

The Southern Struggle

Southern New England states have not experienced the same success. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have spent millions on their own restoration efforts, only to watch fish intercepted offshore before they can reach spawning grounds.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have seen their river herring and shad populations decline sharply from industrial bycatch. Those states have also invested millions in restoration, only to watch their fish intercepted offshore before they can spawn.

Now, advocates say, signs of recovery are emerging even in those southern waters as the midwater trawl fleet has been reduced due to overfishing of its own target species.

"We are even seeing early signs of that in southern New England now, where fish runs are improving because the midwater trawl fleet has been sidelined," Taylor noted.

Economic Stakes

The issue extends beyond ecology into the economic foundation of coastal communities, advocates argue. River herring serve as critical forage fish, providing bait for lobstermen. When populations decline, bait becomes scarcer and more expensive. Recreational and commercial fishermen also feel the impact as striped bass, bluefin tuna, cod and other prized species lose a key food source.

Supporting industries including whale watching and charter fishing depend on healthy marine ecosystems. When forage fish disappear, coastal economies suffer, Taylor said.

"This is not an abstract ecological concern. It is a direct threat to livelihoods, traditions and the economic fabric of coastal New England."

The Path Forward

The Alewife Harvesters of Maine are calling on fisheries managers to create time and area closures in identified bycatch hotspots to keep industrial midwater trawlers away from migrating river herring.

Taylor said the science clearly identifies where and when river herring are most vulnerable offshore. What remains is regulatory action.

"The lesson is simple: less midwater trawling equals more fish," he said.

Taylor characterized the demand as common-sense and science-based rather than radical.

"Every season that passes means more river herring lost, more taxpayer restoration dollars wasted and more pressure on the fishermen and coastal communities that depend on healthy river herring runs," he said.

The Alewife Harvesters of Maine is also the treasurer of the Maine Elver Fishermen's Association. The organization plans to continue pressing for action as the council prepares for its April meeting.