2019 Alewife Count

This is the eleventh, and final, St. Croix River anadromous fisheries report for 2019, covering fish counts at the Milltown (head-of-tide) fishway period ending July 21.  

RIVER HERRING

The Milltown research trap is operated for an 8-12 week period each year to record the run of alewives (or gaspereau) and closely-related blueback herring, collectively called river herring.  Other fish entering the trap are also documented.

The fishway was activated on April 15, 2019 and the research trap was activated on May 1 2019. The trap was tended daily.  The first 2019 river herring ascended the fishway on May 6, two days earlier than in 2018 and within a week of the arrival of previous year’s runs. The fish count ended on July 21, after three consecutive days with no river herring in the research trap.

58 river herring were recorded during the seven-day period of July 12 – July 18, bringing the final year total to 486500.

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

Week of July 12 to July 18
2019                 58
2018                 5
2017                 21
2016                 --
2015                 34
2014                 --
2013                 --
2012                 --
2011                 --
2010                 3
2009                 --

 

Total count to July 18. T = Season Total

2019                 486500 T
2018                 270659 T
2017                 57750 T
2016                 33016 T
2015                 93503 T
2014                 27312 T
2013                 16677 T
2012                 36168 T
2011                 25142 T
2010                 59145 T
2009                 10450 T


Ten-year (2009-2018) average to this date: 72982.2

 

OTHER FISH

Two American Shad were recorded in the trap this week, an anadromous fish that was first recorded returning to the St. Croix in 2015 having not previously been recorded since 1998. This brings the total number of shad to 29.  Shad were recorded in the trap at Milltown in 2015, 2017, and 2018; 11 Shad were recorded in 2015, 54 Shad were recorded in 2017, and 255 shad were recorded in 2018. Only shad that are seen during the counts are recorded.

 

FUTURE REPORTS 

You are being sent this weekly report because of your past interest in St. Croix anadromous fisheries returns. If you have specific questions, send them to Rebecca Goreham, the SCIWC biologist, at rgoreham@stcroix.org