SERC Chesapeake Bay Rivers Array

In this project we are assessing the migration ecology of river herring (alewife and blueback herring) in the Chesapeake Bay. River herring are a valuable ecological, economic, and cultural resource, but populations have declined to < 2% of their historical abundance. Rebuilding river herring populations has been identified as a high priority goal by private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state agencies in the Chesapeake Bay region.

We are using acoustic telemetry to track individual fish during their full annual migration between freshwater and ocean habitats in three river systems – Patapsco River, Potomac River, Rappahannock River.