Above: Volunteer Brandon Boyd clearing an opening through cattails on Pye Brook. This work is part of a project to reintroduce herring to Hood Pond and start their life cycle between the pond and the ocean. This will allow the fish to navigate the winding streams on this journey.
The Ipswich River had one of the largest runs of river herring on the North Shore. Things changed over a century ago. Dams, reservoirs and other barriers we built up that blocked adults from returning to historic spawning ponds. Today, the Ipswich River has one of the smallest herring runs among North Shore coastal rivers.
Learn more about river herring by finding the QR codes posted on the River Walk in Ipswich, and on trails in Boxford.
Reintroducing river herring to specific ponds may allow the population to grow, so we are actively looking at opportunities to restore river herring habitat. Herring are an important type of forage fish for many other animals. Restoring herring populations would be beneficial for wildlife and increase the vitality of the river.
Our plan is to take advantage of the natural migratory instincts of herring. The first milestone in this project will be to reintroduce juvenile herring to Hood Pond in Topsfield andIpswich, which we anticipate could occur in 2021. Water quality testing found the conditions to be suitable to allow juveniles to grow to the point where they will instinctively leave the pond and head for the open ocean.
There will be obstacles for herring along the way, such as the dense stands of cattails growing across the main channel of Pye Brook. Volunteers from the Nor’East Chapter of Trout Unlimited and others, like Brandon Boyd, created openings through the channel. This will give herring a better chance of finding their way to the Ipswich River and the ocean. Once there, herring will mature and instinctively want to seek their home waters of Hood Pond to spawn as adults.
Celebrate the herring migration on Saturday, October 24th at Ipswich Illuminates in downtown Ipswich. Watch the Ocean of Rivers performance at 7 pm near the Ipswich Mills dam patio safely space on land or on the water!
The larger goal is to reintroduce herring to multiple sites. Water quality assessments were also completed for Martins Pond in North Reading and Four Mile Pond in Boxford. Barrier upgrades will need to take place before these ponds could be used, but we are looking ahead to a time when there will be more opportunities to reintroduce herring and restore herring after being absent for so long.