This spring and early summer, students of Pembroke, Rockland, Hanover, Hingham, Scituate, Kingston, and Weymouth Public Schools participated in the North and South Rivers Watershed Association’s river herring program called F.I.S.H. School. Short for Fostering Innovative Science through Herring Counts at Schools, F.I.S.H. School allows students to discover the importance of a local keystone species called river herring.
Thanks to support from Battelle, nearly 1,700 students discovered the importance of river herring, and became citizen scientists as they counted and tracked herring populations via an underwater camera. They also participated in a river herring obstacle course that replicates (in a fun way) the many challenges the fish face during their spring migration. Most of these students even went on a field trip to a local herring run to see the fish in action, and conducted an official citizen science herring count!
All of this education and engagement is done with the goal of supporting local herring populations and understanding the herring’s importance to the marine and freshwater ecosystems. Students also make the connection between river herring dependence on local waterways in our communities that we also depend on. These programs show the students that there are actions we can take today, that ensure the world of tomorrow has healthy and plentiful water.
A special thanks to Battelle for helping make all this possible!
