THE HERRING FAMILY Clupeidae

BLUEBACK HERRING Alosa aestivalis (Mitchill, 1814)

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native. Blueback herring are common in Massachusetts and enter numerous coastal streams. Since they were often confused with the alewife, very little information is available regarding their historical abundance. However, like other river herring, their populations have been reduced or eliminated in some areas by damming and pollution. Bluebacks are abundant in the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers where they migrate as far upstream as New Hampshire in both rivers with up to 440,000 passed each year at the Holyoke Fish Lift between 1981-1991. Counts of fishes currently passing Massachusetts fishways are available.

ALEWIFE Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson, 1811)

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native. Alewife are still very common in some areas, but they have been eliminated or reduced in others areas by damming, pollution and development. Fishways, in place on many streams for hundreds of years, have maintained or enhanced the populations. Alewife are frequently found in the coastal overwash ponds on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, especially when these ponds have been recently connected to the sea. Alewife have also been introduced to a number of inland lakes in Massachusetts, including Congamond, Singletary, and Webster lakes, and South Pond, Brookfield.

AMERICAN SHAD Alosa sapidissima (Wilson,1811)

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native. In Massachusetts, the American shad historically entered virtually all coastal streams. Damming, dredging, pollution, and other alterations of Massachusetts waters, caused large declines in the mid-1800s. Shad were eliminated from the Massachusetts portions of the Connecticut, Blackstone, and Charles rivers and the Merrimack suffered declines. Since the mid- 1950's, with new or improved fishways and fish-lifts, shad numbers have increased dramatically, especially in the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers; with 393,000 per year passed at Holyoke alone between 1981-1991. The species has apparently been extirpated from the Blackstone system since the mid-1800's. Reintroductions made during the late 1970s in the Charles River have met with minimal success. Counts of fishes currently passing Massachusetts fishways are available.

GIZZARD SHAD Dorosoma cepedianum (Lesueur, 1818)

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native. Gizzard shad were first found in Massachusetts in May and June of 1985 when over 70 (14- 18 inches TL) were observed at the Holyoke Fish-Lift on the Connecticut River. Reproduction was confirmed in July of 1986 when a 2 inch TL juvenile was collected in the Easthampton Oxbow of the Connecticut River. Since 1987 numbers have increased at the Holyoke Fish Lift; 95 (1988), 294 (1989), 950 (1990), and 486 in 1991. In addition, a specimen was taken from the Merrimack River at the Lawrence fishway, in October 1985, and we have seen a photograph of an adult taken on hook and line from Mashpee-Wakeby Pond (Cape Cod) in the spring of 1989. The gizzard shad is the only freshwater fish species which has naturally expanded its range into Massachusetts in recent years. Gizzard shad were found for the first time in tributaries to Long Island Sound in the early 1970's. By 1976 commercial fishermen were finding them near the mouth of the Connecticut River and they were subsequently collected 26 km up the Connecticut River by 1984. It is believed that the Massachusetts populations originated from the Hudson River estuary. Over 2,000 were passed at the Holyoke lift in 1995. Counts of fishes currently passing Massachusetts fishways are available.

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from: An Annotated Working List of the Inland Fishes of Massachusetts. © 1996. K.E. Hartel (hartel@mcz.harvard.edu), D.B. Halliwell (arcsys@mint.net) and A.E. Launer (aelauner@leland.stanford.edu).