Orleans volunteers report steep drop in river herring counts; committee will seek state and tribal input

Volunteer counters and committee members told the Orleans Freshwater and Marine Water Quality Committee on June 30 that this year’s river herring visual counts were dramatically lower than recent peaks.

The presenter said volunteers counted about 113 herring going upstream in 2025 (with 82 observed leaving), while in 2026 the team recorded roughly 50 fish moving upstream and a similar number returning — a substantial drop from counts in the thousands in earlier recent years. Overall totals for the season are about 2,000 fish fewer than last year’s reported totals, the presenter said; the committee emphasized those figures will be finalized after Judy completes a QA review.

Committee members noted several potential contributors: lower water levels in recent seasons, debris and detritus in the run that can impede fish movement, and local hydrologic changes. The town’s DPW staff and Nate Sears were credited with helping to clean the run during the season and adjust water levels, which committee members said improved conditions compared with the previous year.

The committee agreed to submit the QA‑checked counts to the state Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) and APCC for formal review and to send a representative to the annual river herring meeting to present local data. Members also urged outreach to Wampanoag representatives for traditional‑ecological perspectives on trends.

No single cause was identified in the meeting; members framed the counts as an urgent monitoring finding that requires combined analysis — lab QA, DMF input and broader regional comparison — before drawing policy conclusions.