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Trump will name more conservative judges. He may even pick a majority of the Supreme Court; Both sides react as Missouri reverses near-total abortion ban Literacy initiative to implement 250 new early-education activations in PA.

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President Biden asks Americans to turn down the temperature, House Speaker Mike Johnson promises an aggressive first 100 day agenda and Democratic governors vow to push back on Trump's plan for mass deportations.

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Texas women travel some of the longest distances for abortion care, Californians the shortest, rural living comes with mixed blessings for veterans, an ancient technique could curtail climate-change wildfires, and escape divisive politics on World Kindness Day.

CT seeing sharp drop in forage fish population

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Monday, September 30, 2024   

Connecticut's forage fish population is disappearing.

The newest Atlantic herring stock assessment showed aside from overfishing, the species is not rebounding as fast as it can and river herring are not fairing much better.

Connecticut River blueback herring runs have plummeted from highs of 630,000 fish in 1985 to 283 in 2022.

Kevin Job, fisheries scientist for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said even though catch caps are low, too many fish are being caught.

"Our concern here in Connecticut is that a really good year for us right now, some of our runs have a thousand fish," Job explained. "If we combine all of our runs on a good year, we're talking a few hundred thousand fish statewide but the fishery is allowed to take millions each year."

The primary solution to the problem is reducing the catch caps. The current numbers were not based on data, rather they are using historic by-catch data from when herring already declined. Job noted reduced quotas are keeping species in check for now but runs in streams have already been lost. The New England Fishery Management Council will revisit catch caps and closing fishing zones at certain times of year.

Connecticut is one of many states seeing its forage fish species decline. States such as Virginia, surrounding Chesapeake Bay, are seeing menhaden populations drop from overfishing.

Jaclyn Higgins, forage fish program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said the ecosystem-based management is being re-evaluated so it can be improved.

"This timeframe that we're in right now is focused on improving this technologically advanced management model and making sure we're doing the best things for the ecosystem that we can," Higgins pointed out. "We started in part one and we have this great coast-wide ecosystem framework but we can do better and we can move the science forward."

She added predators in the Bay are having issues with menhaden, which could impact the ecosystem. At a federal level, Higgins wants to see federal dollars spent on research to answer questions about menhaden. In Virginia, there have been significant challenges to get menhaden limits given commercial entities have a presence on the agency in power to make these changes.

Disclosure: The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Environment, and Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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