Sampling Municipal Harvests, Local Runs,
and Restoration Sites
Claire Enterline, Municipal Harvest Coordinator, Maine Dept. of Marine Resources
Maine Fisherman’s Forum
March 2, 2013
Reminder – 2013 Harvest Rights
Towns must send in harvest rights and harvest plans
NO later than APRIL 20
Send into DMR:
 Town article approved by selectman or town vote (however
town approves articles)
 Article stating that the town wishes to exercise their River
Herring Harvest Rights, and stating whether there will be a
Conservation Closure or refer to the town’s Harvest Plan
 Harvest Plans may vary by town, but must follow the DMR
guidelines
Reminder sheets with more info in the back
River Herring Populations: What’s the problem?
Coast-wide River Herring Landings 1950-2007, NMFS
Greater than 93% DECREASE in U.S. commercial landings since the 1970s
Maine Municipal River Herring
(Alewife + Blueback Herring) Harvests 1950-2012
Millions of Dollars
5.0
2-day
closure
4.5
$0.45
3-day
closure
$0.40
$0.35
3.5
$0.30
3.0
$0.25
2.5
$0.20
2.0
$0.15
1.5
Year
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
1985
1980
$0.00
1975
0.0
1970
$0.05
1965
0.5
1960
$0.10
1955
1.0
1950
Millions of Pounds
4.0
Millions of Dollars
Millions of Pounds
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
 The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was
formed by the 15 Atlantic coast states in 1942 in recognition that
fish do not adhere to political boundaries.
 Deliberative body, coordinating the conservation and
management of the states shared near shore fishery resources –
marine, shell, and anadromous – for sustainable use.
 Healthy, self-sustaining populations for all Atlantic coast fish
species or successful restoration well in progress by the year 2015.
ASMFC.org
ASMFC Shad and River Herring Amendment 2
Objectives of Amendment 2 for River Herring:
Prevent further declines
2. Improve our understanding of bycatch mortality
3. Increase our understanding of river herring fisheries,
stock dynamics and population health through fisherydependent and independent monitoring, in order to
allow for evaluation of management performance.
4. Promote improvements in degraded or historic habitat
1.
ASMFC Shad and River Herring Amendment 2
Management and Implementation
 Close fisheries (commercial/recreational) with exceptions
for systems with a sustainable fishery
 Habitat Conservation and Restoration
 Dams, removal or fish passage
 Water Quality
 Stock Enhancement
 Permitting/Re-licensing of Dams
What makes a sustainable fishery?
 Commercial and/or recreational fishery that will not
diminish potential future stock reproduction and
recruitment
 Sustainability targets – State defined
For Maine:
 Self-sustaining population
Not supplemented by outside stocking
 Fish passage counts or estimations
Harvest + Escapement over 235 fish/surface acre
 Spawning stock biomass
How many spawning fish are there?
 Repeat spawning ratio
Why are we collecting samples?
To gather information to assess
the sustainability of the run over time
Repeat Spawning
Age Structure
Number of Fish
Number of Times Previously Spawned
Age
0
3
77
4
376
32
5
87
132
20
6
4
24
29
2
1
4
11
7
1
8
All Ages
3
4
5
Age
6
7
2
3
1
544
189
54
4
1
1
13
2
What information do we get from scales?
 Species
 Age
 Repeat Spawning
What do we NOT get from scale samples?
Size of the run
 Must be over 235 returning adults per surface acre of lake/pond
 Estimated from harvests or by a fish count
Total Run (Harvest + Escapement)
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
Escapement target
(35 fish/acre) = 20,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Harvester
Harvester
Harvester
Harvester
Harvester
or
DMR
or
DMR
or
DMR
or
DMR
or
DMR
Town (* indicates 2012 Approved Harvest) Volunteer
Volunteer
Volunteer
Volunteer
Volunteer
*Alna: Coopers Mills
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Arrowsic: Sewall Pond
253
138
137
122
113
*Bath/W.Bath/Phippsburg: Winnegance
99
100
100
150
100
200
*Benton: Sebasticook Falls
99
50
101
100
Bremen: Muscongus Brook
13
18
*Cherryfield: Narraguagus River
100
100
88
150
Dennysville: Dennys River
50
*Dresden: Mill Creek
100
100
100
101
200
100
200
*East Machias: Gardiner Lake
205
95
100
50
125
200
*Ellsworth: Union River
99
71
100
100
100
50
100
100
Falmouth: Presumpscot River
100
27
79
114
72
Franklin: Card Mill Stream
100
125
110
50
115
50
100
*Franklin: Grist Mill Stream
21
28
34
50
55
50
73
100
*Gouldsboro: West Bay Pond
110
85
50
102
50
100
100
Hampden: Souadabscook Stream
12
*Jefferson: Dyer River
50
100
Mt Desert: Long Pond
100
100
100
200
103
Mt Desert: Somes Pond
100
100
100
100
150
105
*Newcastle/Nobleboro: Damariscotta Mills
100
125
150
*Orland: Orland River
50
100
100
Pembroke: Pennamaquan River
50
100
Penobscot: Pierce Pond
100
75
50
100
100
Penobscot: Wight Pond
130
*Perry: Little River
50
Phippsburg: Center Pond
50
Saco: Saco River
60
*Steuben: Tunk Stream
53
51
50
*Sullivan: Flanders Stream
33
38
76
100
50
Surry: Patten Pond
100
125
100
105
100
Tremont: Seal Cove Pond
71
88
*Vassalboro: Webber Pond
85
73
50
115
50
75
50
Waldoboro: Medomak River
75
100
93
50
50
75
*Warren: St. George River
100
199
100
149
100
155
250
*Woolwich: Nequasset
40
102
100
105
50
105
150
All Sampling Sites
1451
1122
2029
1703
1824
1488
2581
2175
Total
850
763
749
350
31
438
50
901
775
720
392
650
411
597
12
150
603
655
375
250
150
425
130
50
50
60
154
297
530
159
498
443
1053
652
12,198
Why does DMR take additional samples?
 Length-at-age if not recorded by the
harvester/volunteer
 To make sure we have a sample if few/none are
collected
60
Number of Fish by Length (x-axis) and Age (line color)
Number of Fish
50
Age
40
3
30
4
5
20
6
7
10
0
20
21
22
23
24
25
Length (CM)
26
27
28
Alewife
Dominate all harvests
Spawn earlier (May)
Spawn in lakes and ponds
Blueback Herring
Spawn later (early-mid June)
Spawn in mainstem of rivers
Why did we change to “River Herring Harvests” last year?
Proportion of Alewives vs. Blueback Herring for All Sampled Runs
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Town (* indicates 2012 Approved Harvest)
Blueback
Alewife
When do we start seeing blueback herring?
Proportion of Blueback Herring Over Time for Selected Runs
1
0.8
0.6
BATH: WINNEGANCE LAKE
BENTON: SEBASTICOOK FALLS
DRESDEN: MILL CREEK
0.4
ORLAND: ORLAND RIVER
WARREN: ST. GEORGE RIVER
0.2
16-Jun
9-Jun
2-Jun
26-May
19-May
12-May
5-May
28-Apr
21-Apr
14-Apr
7-Apr
0
Why do we need to know the species?
Blueback Herring
Total Length (mm)
Alewife
Age
Does length at age differ between sites?
Damariscotta
Mills
Mean = 289 mm
Mean = 280 mm
Grist Mill
Stream
Mean = 272 mm
Length (mm)
Dyer River
Age (years)
Card Mill
Stream
Mean = 269 mm
Wight Pond
Mean = 262 mm
Age composition
Differences between runs can be due to history,
harvesting practices, and environmental variability
Percent of River Herring at Each Age Group
70%
60%
50%
40%
Arrowsic
30%
East Machias
20%
Warren
10%
0%
3
4
5
6
Age
7
8
Age composition
Between years there are changes in mortality at each site
– need to look at multiple years!
Percent of River Herring at Each Age Group
80%
70%
60%
50%
Dresden - 2008
40%
Dresden - 2010
30%
Dresden - 2011
20%
Dresden - 2012
10%
0%
3
4
5
6
Age
7
8
9
Repeat Spawning – Differs between sites
Repeat Spawning - Percentage of the Run that has Spawned 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 times
100.00%
Percent of All Fish in the Run
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
BREMEN: MUSCONGUS BROOK
40.00%
PERRY - BOYDEN LAKE, LITTLE RIVER
30.00%
WALDOBORO - MEDOMAK RIVER
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
0
1
2
3
Number of Years that 1 Fish Spawned
4
Repeat Spawning – Between Sites
Repeat Spawning - Percentage of the Run that has Spawned 1, 2, 3, and 4 times
Percent of All Fish in the Run
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
BREMEN: MUSCONGUS BROOK
PERRY - BOYDEN LAKE, LITTLE RIVER
10.00%
WALDOBORO - MEDOMAK RIVER
5.00%
0.00%
1
2
3
Number of Years that 1 Fish Spawned
4
Repeat Spawning – At One Site
Number of Previous Spawning Years
Age
0
1
2
3
3
100.00%
4
93.23%
6.77%
5
31.25%
63.54%
5.21%
20.00%
76.00%
4.00%
25.00%
75.00%
6
7
8
4
100.00%
 Commercial and/or recreational fishery that will
not diminish potential future stock reproduction
and recruitment
For Maine:
 Self-sustaining population
Not supplemented by outside stocking
 Fish passage counts or estimations
Harvest + Escapement over 235 fish/surface acre
 Spawning stock biomass
How many spawning fish are there?
 Repeat spawning ratio
Claire Enterline, Municipal Harvest Coordinator
172 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
Phone: (207) 624 – 6341
Email: Claire.Enterline@maine.gov