On your mark...

A river herring run is one of nature’s most egalitarian phenomena. Every spring, two distinct but closely related and nearly indistinguishable species, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), swim up Atlantic coastal waterways from Newfoundland to Florida to spawn. These relatively small silvery fish migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles from the vast ocean to the coast and on upstream to produce their next generation. Unlike the better known species of salmon that adopt a similar life history but are much more picky about the size and characteristics of the rivers they will use, alewives and bluebacks use spawning grounds ranging from large, majestic rivers to small tidal creeks. Therefore, a herring run is a piscine experience that doesn’t require a journey to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef or even the wilds of Maine to be experienced. River herring runs are incredibly accessible to nature lovers, occurring in backyards, town parks, and even some highly urbanized areas.

River herring are more than fascinating species in their own right and a source of enjoyment for those who eagerly await their annual arrival. They also play a key role in supporting multiple ecosystems, and by extension human economies and societies. River herring are directly harvested in commercial and recreational fisheries, either being used as bait, ground into fishmeal, or eaten by people. In fact, Native Americans used river herring to fertilize fields and increase crop production, and they passed this knowledge on to early colonists. The scale of these fisheries is much less today than it once was. However, alewives and blueback herring continue to play important ecological and economic roles. They are vital to the health of freshwater ecosystems by delivering carbon, nutrients and energy upstream, against river flow, replenishing what is lost as water moves from land, down river and out to sea. More importantly, river herring are a critical prey fish in multiple ecosystems, feeding (among many other predators) tuna, cod and billfish at sea, striped bass, bluefish and harbor seals in estuaries, and ospreys, herons and otters in rivers. If you can think of a coastal predator along the eastern seaboard, chances are that river herring figure into its diet.

These humble fish, superficially simple yet behaviorally and ecologically quite complex, are in trouble. Resilient to a point, river herring have through the years endured a series of anthropogenic insults, including overfishing, bycatch mortality, water pollution, habitat degradation, and, perhaps most significantly, blockage of migratory routes by dams and other barriers. For years, river herring runs hung on across their range despite these impacts. However, we now may be reaching a tipping point as cumulative and synergistic effects seem to be driving pervasive declines in river herring populations across their range. The paper I grew up with, the Hartford Courant, recently reported on the discouraging trends in alewife and blueback runs.

Running On will not be a blog solely about river herring. Rather, this blog will address the full range of interactions between humankind and the natural world. Humans are inevitably integrated within the biosphere, ultimately reliant upon air, water, soil, wildlife, forests, oceans, and the myriad products and ecosystem services they provide. Our attitudes, actions and policies, as individuals, corporations, organizations and governments, have a tremendous role in determining the future state of global ecosystems, and therefore human society as well. So, sometimes, I will highlight and offer thoughts on key developments in environmental policy (like this news from California). Other times, I will discuss ongoing environmental issues that might not be linked to an immediate action or decision but that need to be kept fresh in our minds (like our river herring and their plight).

And some times I will simply discuss nature: its lessons, patterns and quirks, and our own new discoveries about it. Sound stewardship of natural resources requires appreciation of our inescapable co-dependence with the non-human world, as well as understanding of the nature of this co-dependence. Building that appreciation and understanding is well served by enthusiasm and excitement for the world around us. Learning about the unique hypno-attack hunting behavior of Indonesian cuttlefish (see it here in the second clip down the page) will not help manage any natural resource in a more sustainable manner. But the sense of awe it instills can reinforce the complexity and value of nature. We are constantly learning more and more about a world that we both rely upon and often relentlessly exploit, and recognizing the ever-present gaps in our knowledge, highlighted by these sorts of discoveries, might help engender a more cautious, measured and studied approach. This is a critically needed transformation. I can state without exaggeration or hyperbole that environmental degradation is the single greatest threat we face as a nation and a species. The threat of terrorism becomes irrelevant if we cannot eat, drink or breathe.

I chose Running On as a title for several reasons. After nearly a decade as an academic ecologist, first as a graduate student and then as a post-doctoral fellow, my first project as a professional environmentalist has been restoration of river herring runs. In fact, Running On is the title of white paper I wrote in 2005 outlining plans for river herring restoration on Long Island (here, but note that I write here as private citizen and not an employee of the fine organization that keeps me employed!). River herring themselves are emblematic of many environmental issues. Their ecology and conservation spans multiple ecosystems, scales, and types and degrees of human impact. And, they are hanging on (or, running on). They are often responsive to the right conservation action, highlighting the resilience and responsiveness of nature when we give her a chance.