2017 Alewife Count

Reports for 2017 are listed below, in chronological order

FIRST REPORT

This is the first St. Croix River anadromous fisheries report for 2017.  This report series provides weekly updates on river herring (alewife/gaspereau and blueback herring) and other fish recorded at the St. Croix's Milltown fishway during the 8-10 week river herring run.  Other St. Croix anadromous fisheries information is also provided, when available. 

The 2017 reports are prepared on a 7-day cycle that ends on Monday evening and will be issued through the St Croix International Waterway Commission office on Tuesdays. 


RIVER HERRING
The Milltown fishway and research trap were activated together on April 26.  High water flows precluded any fishway attraction for the first two weeks: the lower section of the fishway was underwater and huge standing waves and turbulence below the dam further compounded the situation.  No fish were recorded that week.  Flows last week were still high but had dropped sufficiently to allow the fishway to operate.  The first river herring entered the fishway on May 12, for a total of 244 to date. 

A comparison of alewife returns to this date in other recent years:

Last 10 year (2007-2016) average to this date: 1226

The St. Croix run typically peaks between May 17 and June 13, so this year's slow start is not unusual.
 

OTHER FISH
One white sucker, and one sunfish were recorded at the trap this week and released upstream, these fish have dropped downstream of the dam via the gates or spillage in recent weeks and are returning upstream to freshwater. 


AUTOMATED COUNTER 
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating to calibrate an automated tube counter that has been installed at the top of the Milltown fishway by the Sipayik Environmental Department. All fish will continue to be enumerated by hand, and differing species will be recorded and compared to the automated counter. If staff members observe fish that are too large to fit through the counting tubes (e.g. American Shad, White Suckers, Salmon, etc.) the counter will be closed and fish will be able to swim over the counter. More information will be available as this study develops. 

TRACKING STUDY
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating on a St. Croix river herring tracking study in 2017.  A maximum of three hundred river herring will receive PIT tags at Milltown and be tracked by stationary receivers placed along the river and in Woodland and Grand Falls Flowages as they move into and out of the watershed.  More information will be available later.

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SECOND REPORT

This is the second St. Croix River anadromous fisheries report for 2017,  covering fish counts at the Milltown (head-of-tide) fishway for the seven-day period ending May 23.   


RIVER HERRING
The Milltown research trap is operated for an 8-10 week period each year to record the run of alewives (or gaspereau) and closely-related blueback herring, these collectively called river herring.  Other fish entering the trap are also recorded.

Over 10,000 fish suddenly moved up the fishway on Saturday (May 20) and smaller numbers followed throughout the weekend, to give a one week total of 29,335. This was the highest count for the seven-day period of May 17-23 since 1996. 

A comparison of alewife/blueback herring returns to this date with other recent years:

Ten year (2007-2016) average to this date: 8,326.

OTHER FISH
Eight sea lamprey, 62 white suckers, 12 smallmouth bass and one brook trout were also recorded in the trap this week.   The sea lamprey is a returning anadromous fish, the others are freshwater fish that presumably dropped below the dam via gates or spillways into brackish water and came back up the fishway to the river.

AUTOMATED COUNTER
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating to calibrate an automated tube counter that has been installed at the top of the Milltown fishway by the Sipayik Environmental Department. All fish will continue to be enumerated by hand, and differing species will be recorded and compared to the automated counter. On Saturday (May 20) the amount of fish being released from the trap exceeded the space available for schooling in front of the automated counter, as a result the counter was closed for the rest of the week to allow safe fish passage. 

TRACKING STUDY
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating on a St. Croix river herring tracking study in 2017.  A maximum of three hundred river herring will receive PIT tags at Milltown and be tracked by stationary receivers placed along the river and in Woodland and Grand Falls Flowages as they move into and out of the watershed.  More information will be available later.

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THIRD REPORT

This is the third St. Croix River anadromous fisheries report for 2017,  covering fish counts at the Milltown (head-of-tide) fishway for the seven-day period ending May 30.   


RIVER HERRING
The Milltown research trap is operated for an 8-10 week period each year to record the run of alewives (or gaspereau) and closely-related blueback herring, these collectively called river herring.  Other fish entering the trap are also recorded.

The week started slow with only 391 fish recorded on May 24. The attraction line was turned the afternoon of May 24 and updates were made to fish ladder baffles to increase water levels; 10,545 fish were recorded on May 25 thanks to the combined efforts of New Brunswick Power and Department of Fisheries and oceans. 13,327 fish were counted in the trap over the weekend (May 26-28); on Monday, May 29 the SCIWC opened the front end of the fish trap to allow fish free passage through the fish way. On May 29 the SCIWC began conducting ten minute counts every half hour starting at 8am and ending at 1010pm; each count is multiplied by three to estimate the count for one half-hour period. This counting method will continue until less than 5,000 fish are observed passing in one day. Following the week of May 24-30 the cumulative year total stood at 74,425; giving a one week total of 44,110. This was the highest count for the seven-day period of May 24-30 since 1998. 

A comparison of alewife/blueback herring returns to this date with other recent years:

Ten year (2007-2016) average to this date: 15,847.

OTHER FISH
20 white suckers, 17 smallmouth bass, one common shiner and one golden shiner were also recorded in the trap this week.   They are freshwater fish that presumably dropped below the dam via gates or spillways into brackish water and came back up the fishway to the river.

AUTOMATED COUNTER
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating to calibrate an automated tube counter that has been installed at the top of the Milltown fishway by the Sipayik Environmental Department. All fish will continue to be enumerated by hand, and differing species will be recorded and compared to the automated counter. On Saturday (May 20) the amount of fish being released from the trap exceeded the space available for schooling in front of the automated counter, as a result the counter was closed for the rest of the week to allow safe fish passage; the counter will remain closed for the duration of the 2017 fish run. 

TRACKING STUDY
The St Croix International Waterway Commission, fisheries agencies and the Passamaquoddy Tribe are collaborating on a St. Croix river herring tracking study in 2017.  A maximum of three hundred river herring will receive PIT tags at Milltown and be tracked by stationary receivers placed along the river and in Woodland and Grand Falls Flowages as they move into and out of the watershed.  On May 23, 140 fish were implanted with PIT tags and released, more information will be made available as they move through the watershed. 

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You are being sent this report because of your past interest in St. Croix anadromous fisheries returns. If you want to be removed from this distribution list -- or just receive the final 2017 report -- let me know.  Also, if you know of someone who might like to be added to this email list, send me their email address.  If you have specific questions, send these to me at staff@stcroix.org