Opinion: Fisheries managers must stop delaying and protect Maine’s river herring

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 5, 2026

For generations, alewives were harvested from Maine’s rivers, providing food, bait for fishermen and support for the broader ecosystem. When alewives disappear, the effects ripple outward. That is why in Maine we spent hundreds of millions of dollars removing dams, improving water quality and building fish passage to bring these fish back. Those efforts improved our alewife runs. But many of those restored fish are being killed at sea. Industrial midwater trawlers are the biggest threat to our restoration efforts. A single tow can wipe out an entire river’s spawning run. All the taxpayer dollars spent restoring rivers and fish passage can be wasted in one afternoon. Maine’s alewife runs have rebounded but Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have seen their river herring and shad populations hit hard by industrial bycatch. The New England Fishery Management Council has failed to take action. ~ Rusty Taylor, Alewife Harvesters of Maine, Mount Desert