ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 28, 2021
River herring are critically important to coastal ecosystems because they serve as food for birds and larger fish. Regulators have described the fishes’ population as nearing historic lows because of dams, pollution, warming waters and other factors. But years of effort to save them appear to be paying off. Preliminary counts of the fish from Maine to South Carolina in 2019 showed 2.7 million more fish than in 2015. Commercial catch of the fish has increased as the population has slowly recovered. Environmentalists said more dam removals will be needed to ensure that the fish continue to recover.