The Herring are Running!
One of the most abundant fishes in the world, herring, or alewives, are found along the Atlantic coast from Canada to Florida. Adults range from eight to fifteen inches in length; they have large eyes, forked tails, silvery sides and gray-green backs. Ocean-dwellers most of their lives, each year, they return to the freshwater systems in which they were born to spawn-a wonderful signal of Spring on the Cape. Arriving in April and early May, vast schools make the cross from the ocean into freshwater ponds and brooks via herring runs. Along these natural and artificial courses, you'll see dark pools of fish awaiting their turn to cross-over, then, amid the mighty rush of the water, flashes of silver as the herring leap the "ladders" that assist them in the final leg of their journey.
Fun Fact: The Atlantic eel practices a migration similar to the herring-but in reverse. While spending its adult life in freshwater streams, rivers and estuaries, the eel returns to saltwater to breed.
In the last few years, researchers have noted a marked decline in the number of migrating herring. In efforts to rebuild the stock, the taking of herring or alewives is strictly prohibited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until further notice. |
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View one of nature's wonders up close by
visiting a Cape herring run. (We've listed three below, especially worth a
visit.)
After spawning, the female alewife lays up
to 100,000 eggs, then the adults set off for the return journey to the
ocean. Meanwhile, after drifting for two to three days, the eggs finally
sink and stick to rock and debris, then hatch two to three days later. By
autumn, the young follow the adults' path to sea to become part of the return
journey the following year.
