Herrings' human helpers to get boost

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - For decades, fishermen have converged at the mouth of a Rhode Island river in springtime to scoop up hundreds of herring and hurl them over a barrier into their spawning waters.

Last year, nearly 2,300 fish were helped over the Omega Pond dam and into the Ten Mile River, including about 200 netted and relocated in one day alone on annual Scoop the Herring day, scheduled this year for Saturday.

Now, those who have helped the fish might be getting their own helping hand. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is hoping to start construction on a series of fish ladders. "We'd love to put ourselves out of business," said Keith Gonsalves, a naturalist who organizes volunteers for Scoop the Herring day. "We messed everything up, so it's time that we fix it."

New Englanders build dams through the 19th and 20th centuries as industry grew, blocking passages for the herring, alewife and shad that swim back each spring to spawn the waters in which they were born. In the 1960s, Paul Bettencourt, of East Providence, started restocking a section of the river that ran behind his brother's house with fish, and later began throwing them over Omega Pond dam in the spring.

Other recreational anglers, who came to scoop up the herring for bait, followed suit, Bettencourt said. "Whatever they used for bait, they would throw 20 times that over the wall," he said. Fishermen and environmentalists took up his cause and for years have been hoping to see the Ten Mile River project completed.

Once it's finished, more than 200,000 fish could populate the river's Turner Reservoir, which straddles the Massachusetts border, according to Phil Edwards, a biologist for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

A moratorium on taking river herring is in effect throughout New England, but the fish are food for bass and other larger species anglers love. After July 15, contractors are expected to begin building two concrete fish passages, one on Hunts Mill and another at Turner Reservoir.

They hope to be finished by Dec. 1. The Omega Dam ladder is expected next summer. Overall, the nearly $3 million project gets about 65 percent of its budget from the federal government and the rest from other sources, including the state.

Gonsalves says once fish runs are up and his helping hands are no longer needed, he'll still herald their homecoming with herring run viewing parties and other events.

"Then we'll have a celebrate the herring festival," he said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)