Pondlore is a citizen naturalist journal of the annual migration of Alosa puedoharengus (river herring) from the open sea to their fresh water natal (or home) pond to spawn in Slough Pond, one of five headwater ponds in the Stony Brook Watershed migratory route. Please explore through all the information I have collected under each of the page headings above (which, if not visible, are condensed under a list icon in the top right corner on device screen). Mission Statement
Journal: each month is listed separately and chronicled in real time, updated daily with photographs & observations, in 2023 & 2024. The Ponds & Resources: critical data researched and collected on herring and ponds; regularly updated. '23 Slide Show: A brief visual summary of the 2023 migratory year on Slough Pond culled from the Journal. Biodiversity Lists: A recent addition with observations and data on the biodiversity of the pond. Photographs: a separate slide show of pond life through the seasons.
Background I created this website ten years ago to celebrate the beauty of Slough Pond, where I have lived for over two decades, but repurposed it in 2023 to focus on alewives. It will continue through 2024 and beyond if necessary until the issues they face here are resolved. I am ideally situated as a pond-dweller myself to observe and document the anadromous fish migration. They arrive in the spring to spawn and depart by mid-summer. Their offspring, the fry, mature in the pond "nursery" during the summer months. Their journey out to sea runs through the fall. The fry will return to this natal pond in 3 or 4 years themselves to spawn. If they survive. Our observations will include the habitat the alewives thrive in and contribute to and any issues they face in their migratory route from Walker's Pond into Slough Pond.
It should be noted that, at present, Slough Pond is their furthest spawning destination after entering from the ocean at Paine's Creek, traveling up Stony Brook, with its fish ladder, into Lower Mill and Upper Mill Ponds, through Walkers Pond, and finally into Slough. Pine Pond, once the furthest connection has not been truly viable for many years, nor has Elbow Pond, from Walker's, though some fish are observed. Slough is the healthiest pond in Brewster for humans as well as wildlife.
Issues Involved Brewster has a time honored association with the annual alewife migration. It is part of our culture. We may have helped stabilize their declining numbers over the past two decades, since imposing a moratorium on fish taking in 2006, but the new hardships they face are very real. Herring will always seek out the home pond in which they were born, until they can't, that is. There were seven headwater ponds in the Stony Brook Watershed in the past. We have lost two. One is marginal (Elbow) and one is threatened (Slough). The Alewife Committee would like to reduce the alewives' habitat even further by restricting them into three ponds for ease of management among other things.
Discussion was underway early in 2023 by the Brewster Alewife Committee (AC), under the Natural Resources Department (NRD), to close the fish passageway from Walker's Pond to Slough Pondpermanently. The closure was postponed for further study for one year once concerns were raised by citizens. The committee has invited knowledgeable professionals to assist in the decision on how to best preserve the passageway of this keystone species, if feasible. Much progress was made in that regard over the year, especially with contributions from the Natural Resources Advisory Commission (NRAC) which was established in April. We support comprehensive research and hope our journal will be of some help gathering critical data. The AC, NRAC, NRD, and other Town officials are fully aware of this project and we communicate regularly. Link: Alewife Committee Meeting, 2/23/'23.
We will seek answers, within our locality, to questions of fisheries management that we are faced with in 2023 & 2024, with climate change, overfishing offshore, and habitat loss. (*The following are initial concerns raised in February of 2023.)
Will closing off the Slough Pond passageway help or hinder the alewife population by concentrating them in the three lower ponds, which may make it easier for them to get out in low water years, or would an annual, flexible approach with removable screening be better ?
What effect will this potential diversion have on their health, on the habitat and the wildlife it sustains, and on water quality in the ponds?
How do we address the issue of "manpower" to monitor and maintain this current passageway through practical solutions?
At a time in fisheries management when we are restoring alewife runs, why does Brewster want to close one and eliminate more habitat?
Could a management plan be created with proactive strategies, such as a 3-5 year study?
Please note: the passage from Walker's to Slough crosses private property. Town of Brewster officials have the authority to maintain the passage under state regulations governing anadromous fish migration. It should not be considered as an area open to the general public. (Visit the fish ladder at The Stony Brook Grist Mill to experience the herring migration.)
Progress in 2023: The Natural Resources Advisory Commission, a committee tasked with researching and advising on the larger environmental concerns for the Town of Brewster, has kept the Slough Pond issue on their agenda all year and accepted a MA DMF proposal for a two year habitat study. This has answered our concerns that decisions were being made by a limited number of individuals without adequate input from other professionals and scientific study on its potential impact on the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
The manpower issue was addressed with the welcome aid of AmeriCorps, Barnstable County Mosquito Control, and a warden who cleared the passageway on several occasions- such regular maintenance is practiced across the Cape. Water management issues were addressed through the installation of sandbags to control storm water runoff into the culvert in the summer and in the fall at the mouth of the passage. Data gathering has been addressed with the initiation of three in-depth pond studies were initiated, slated to begin in 2024, for the next 2-3 years including the Slough Pond habitat. However- not all of the issues have been resolved. There is still no commitment from the Town to keep the passageway open. The maintenance required from years of neglect has been only superficially addressed, including sand accumulation, deterioration of the culvert pipe, and erosion from storm water runoff. Consistent efforts at advocacy and intervention were required all year. It is our hope that progress will be made on these issues in 2024.
On Cranberry Bogs & Alewives:
The argument was often been raised by the AC that this passageway was man-made, therefore an unnatural fish passage which bears on their decision to close it. If this is so, it is not the only "artificial" passage on the Cape, which is now a herring migratory route. The same is true in Dennis, Harwich, and other towns on the peninsula. Looking back, in the 1850's, narrow canals were dug across low lying wetlands in proximity to ponds across the Cape in the area to provide irrigation for the newly established cranberry bogs. In consequence, this aided and expanded alewife migration, as have man-made fish ladders. These bogs ceased operation in the 1950's. If the Walker's/Slough passage was a man-made irrigation canal through the original wetland, which it appears it was considering geological maps and the terrain, it has been used by the alewives for their migratory cycle exclusively for at least 70 years, possibly 170 years. They have established an extremely large, stable, and vibrant population in Slough Pond, a habitat that has aided their survival and through which they support the biodiversity of this ecosystem.
Who we are and aren't. I am a photographer, author, and retired documentarian. I am not a scientist, however, like many, I am a citizen scientist, an amateur naturalist, and a nature lover. I have created this website with love, respect, and gratitude for this special pond and to honor my dear friend John Hay who taught me everything I know about alewives. I also consider this an update on the documentary we made together from 2001-2004, A Journey That Never Ends, John Hay's The Run. This website and its work are dedicated to my friend John, to my father Parker, who took me fishing in the great old river, and as always, to my brother Brian, another great lover of fish.
Comments, questions, and inquiries on permission to use content are welcome. Contact: pondlore.jriley@gmail.com