| Join our list |
 |
|
Become a Member
|
Please join us.
You may sign up for an annual fee of $35
by going to our website.
Or checks may be mailed to:
Friends of Herring River
P.O. Box 4966
Wellfleet, MA 02667
|
Thanks to FCCNS
|
The Friends of Herring River (FOHR) take this opportunity to thank the Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore (FCCNS), the FCCNS Board, and President Judy Parmelee for their support in getting FOHR started. They have given wise counsel, introductions and contacts, and particularly, a seed money grant of $2000, without which our web site would not yet exist. We are indebted to their foresight that FOHR could harness the power of many people who care about the ecological integrity of the Herring River watershed, almost all of which is inside the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
|
One Town,
One Book -- 2009
|
With its putrid smell, bony flesh and rancid oily taste, the menhaden would seem the least likely candidate for "The Most Important Fish in the Sea,"
the title of H. Bruce Franklin's brilliant new environmentalist study.
But Franklin is not being ironic. The menhaden is the most important
fish in the sea if you understand its ecological purpose. Louis Proyect review.
As one of the few marine specimens that thrive on microscopic plant life or phytoplankton, it is uniquely positioned to purify waters and estuaries impacted by nitrogen runoff.
Come to the Wellfleet Library to get copies, available now, of "The Most Important Fish
in the Sea" by Bruce Franklin. Start reading, and pick up a schedule of
events.
|
|
|
Welcome!
In this issue, John Portnoy shares with us a recent NOAA Tech Memo entitled: Estuarine Fish and Shellfish Species in U.S. Commercial and Recreational Fisheries: Economic Value as an Incentive to Protect and Restore Estuarine Habitat. (K.A. Lellis-Dibble, K.E. McGlynn, and T.E. Bigford) Nov 2008.
The study is a substantial validation of the reason FOHR is committed to the protection and restoration of estuarine resources. It provides updated information relating to percentage of fisheries species reliant on estuarine ecosystems during some portion of their lives. It also covers the commercial and recreational value of those species, as well as a geographic breakdown of such information. For full text go to: http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/tm/TM90.pdf
John has also provided us with a fascinating 1887 map showing just how much of Wellfleet is, or was, salt marsh. Click here
Contact: Lisbeth Wiley Chapman, editor beth@friendsofherringriver.org
|
Questions & Answers -
Send your questions to info@friendsofherringriver.org
|
|
Q: Hi Folks: I am a born and bred Wellfleet native and used to go shellfishing with my Dad in he Herring River when I was a child, circa Late 1950s. As a mater of fact, my Dad died on the Mouth of the Herring River -in July 1965 from a heart attack while oystering on the bayside of the river. I keep watch on what is happening around town even though I live in Westfield, Mass. I am interested in when they are going to fully open the dike completely. The dike should never have been built in the first place. It was built the year before my dad was born. Any info on this?
With regards, Charles "Chick" Berrio.
A: Chick: Thanks for your message. Always good to hear from Wellfleet natives, and especially about shellfishing in the Herring River. One of the key objectives of this project is to restore the shellfish habitat and get back to the time when you and your Dad went shellfishing in that area.
We wish we could give you a precise answer to your question, but let me tell you where we are now. The environmental impact review process is underway in compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. There are four alternatives being studied and others may develop over the course of the study.
See the rest of the answer on the website.
|
| Logo Competition Winner |
|
The Friends of the Herring River logo competition drew more than 50  entrants thanks to Mrs. Ginny Ogden, art teacher at Nauset Regional High School who encouraged her classes to participate.
"It was a tough decision, but a vote of the Board of Friends determined that the winning logo was drawn by Kelsey Smith, 16, of Brewster," says Don Palladino, President of FOHR. She will receive a $50 gift certificate from Conwell Lumber in Provincetown for art supplies thanks to owner, Jean Rogers. The logo, shown here, will be used on our website, in this newsleter and on other material as appropriate. The competition was written up in the Cape Cod Times. Click here for the story.
|
Herring River Brush Burning - March 2 and 9.
|
|
You can help make a difference to our Herring Run!
Jeff Hughes, Wellfleet's Herring Warden, is looking for volunteers to help with an essential brush burning project scheduled for March 2nd and March 9th, consecutive Mondays. Rain date is Friday, March 20th. The event is held to clear the way for the herring run migration route and to remove invasive phragmites. The Cape Cod National Seashore and Americorp members living in Wellfleet, and a number of other organizations will be participating. The area to be burned will begin at the Bound Brook Island parking lot at the culvert, working East toward Route 6 on the south side of the river. For detailed instructions about how to prepare for the day and what to expect, please go to the website. Click under events.
|
|
Watch the Herring Run and Help Count - Volunteers Needed
|
|
From earliest colonial times, the run of the herring in Wellfleet's Herring River was a marker of Spring's return. Diking of the river in 1909 greatly restricted and diminished the herring run. A major goal of the river restoration is to restore that early herring run, as much as possible.
We need volunteers to help us track the progress of the restoration by joining us in estimating each Spring's run. The Friends of the Herring River are sponsoring a monitoring program, in co-operation with APCC and Jeff Hughes, Wellfleet's Herring Warden. Tracking sites have been identified alongside the river as it runs eastward of Rt 6 up to the Gull Ponds, where the herring are known to spawn.
If you are interested, please reply to info@friendsofherringriver.org with Herring Count in the subject line. An organizational and training meeting will be scheduled in March. Details will follow.
|
Herring River Kayak Trips Scheduled for May
|
|
Two Herring River Kayak Trips - co-sponsored by Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and Friends of Herring River
are scheduled for May 13 and May 20. Call Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 to register or go to the website for more information.
|
History Outlines Nearly 50 Years of Efforts to Restore Herring River. What's Taking So Long!
|
|
Former Cape Cod National Seashore Ecologist, John Portnoy, has made available this resource: "BRIEFING PAPER ON PAST AND PROPOSED MANAGEMENT OF THE HERRING RIVER ESTUARY - December 2003."
The paper details a great deal of the science (and lists resources) around concerns for the Herring River Watershed and the problems identified in the early 60s (at the time of the establishment of the Seashore). The paper notes that after five decades of diking and drainage, most of the original emergent marshlands gave way to the invasion of freshwater wetland plants in hundreds of acres of flood plain between High Toss and Old County Roads. Saltwater wetland values were lost, and, because of the drainage, not replaced by those associated with freshwater wetlands creating many of the problems the river and estuary face today. You can read the full history at our website.
|
|
|
