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North and South River Watershed Association

2025 Herring Count

March 23rd - June 14th, 2025


PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE, ESPECIALLY BEYOND THE SECTION MARKED "UPDATE"

Each spring, millions of river herring migrate into Massachusetts’ coastal waters to begin their annual migration up of our coastal streams and rivers. They are returning to the place of their birth, to spawn and create a new generation of river herring. River Herring populations had declined sharply in the early 2000s. As a result, in 2006 the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries implemented a ban on the harvest of herring. While the harvest ban was intended to reduce one stress on these fish they still faced a series of threats including drought, changing climate, shifts in predation, and an inability to get to their spawning grounds due to dams or non-operational fish ladders. 

The North and South Rivers Watershed Association and the MassBays National Estuary Partnership are working hard to restore our local rivers and we need your help to document our herring populations. We are seeking volunteers from late March through early June to count herring. LATE SIGN-UPS ARE WELCOME; SEE TRAINING LINK BELOW UNDER "UPDATES." 

The counting is easy, fun, and based on your availability. Detailed training will be provided, but here are the basics:

  • Use the schedule below to pick your counting location(s)
  • Pick the days of the week and time blocks that you can count. Time blocks are 4-hours long, you just need to show up any 10-minutes in that time block.
  • Report back your results. That's it!

Counting Locations
  • Herring Brook, Hil's Mill Rd, Pembroke – Historically the highest population of herring in the watershed, it is a crucial site for tracking trends. Click here for link to Google Maps.
  • South River, Veterans Park, Marshfield – Dam removal is underway! Fish passage this spring will be through a temporary bypass channel during construction activities. This will be an exciting place to visit for fish counts and to see the river restoration progress. Click here for link to Google Maps.
  • Bound Brook, Mordecai Lincoln Rd, North Scituate – Site of a 2017 dam removal, herring have only just started to return in small numbers. Click here for link to Google Maps.  
  • First Herring Brook, Old Oaken Bucket Dam, Scituate – With the help of a wet spring we documented the consistent presence of herring here in 2024. Click here for link to Google Maps.
  • Third Herring Brook, Norwell/Hanover behind Macy’s at Hanover Crossing – This is a challenging place to count fish, but after 3 dam removals and recent removal of 3 weirs, we still hope to have visual documentation of fish passing. Are you up for it? Click here for link to Google Maps.

Signing Up

For each location below, the last week of counting is shown with the start and end dates. Whichever shift(s) you select for a location, those will be your shifts for all the weeks for that location (shown for each location). 

It’s OK if you miss days for personal reasons.  It’s also OK to show up to do extra shifts at any time or location.

RECORDED ZOOM TRAINING SESSION is here for new volunteers and for future reference.


Refresher information: This pdf contains all details for the counting procedure (as well as log sheets if you want them).

*NEW PROTOCOLS FOR 2025*

1) For 2025 we are trying to transition fully to electronic data entry. This saves us time, reduces error, and gets us results faster.
  • Please use the Survey123 data entry tool. *Note that this is new as of 2024. (Please don't use the old Epicollect app).
  • Data can be directly entered into the web form without the use of an app. Or you can download the Survey123 app for free. Neither system requires a login. Our project is here: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/70620ffb5d1e4b6b825f686d160fa3d0?open=menu
  • *If you are uncomfortable with using the app please ask for additional training. Or you can keep track of your own data using the printable log sheet at the end of this presentation. Log sheets can be dropped off at the NSRWA office… or just take a picture and send it to us.
  • There will not be logbooks at the counting sites.
2) No need to collect Temperature data. For 2025 we have temperature loggers collecting continuous data in each of the brooks.


START: Counts will start on March 30th to May 31st (*except Pembroke which starts Sunday 3/23)
END: Counts will go through approximately May 31st (except South River which ends ~6/14)

You can always revisit the Herring Count schedule and sign up page  https://nsrwa.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=96364

If you are using personal log sheets: As they fill up you can send it via postal mail to:
Alex Mansfield
NSRWA
PO Box 43
Norwell, MA 02061

or drop it off at:
NSRWA Office
214 South Street
Norwell, MA 02061
(near the Hanover Y)

Or email a scan (or a picture from your phone) to 

NEW CAPABILITY: to see the counts entered via the app in near-real time, click here.

There are no shifts available at this time.

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