The herring are here! Next year their passage will be easier.



This degraded fish ladder at Cedar Lake in Falmouth will be rebuilt in time for next year's herring migration.



By Abigail Franklin, Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager

The rivers have reached 50 degrees! On Cape Cod, river herring start to swim upstream to their spawning grounds when the temperature of the rivers and streams reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  Migrating river herring have now been seen at all but one of the seven Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project fish passage sites. 

It’s exciting to see them after the long winter, and it’s even more exciting to know that when they arrive next year, they will discover new fish ladders and structures that will make it easier for them to swim to the ponds!



For example, this spring at the Marstons Mills River in Barnstable, the river herring are swimming through a flume that is deteriorating.  In the late 1800s the flume was constructed by citizens who wanted to help the fish bypass the cranberry bogs on their way to the spawning grounds at Middle Pond. Because of the sandy soil, the walls of the flume have a tendency to lean and fall into the stream.



Many efforts have been made over the years to repair and reconstruct the structure, and it is time to do so again.  Next year, the river herring will swim through a more structurally stable flume, and will not have to worry about the walls caving in on them!



At Cedar Lake in Falmouth, the river herring are swimming up a fish ladder that is disintegrating, and then through a sloped culvert with baffles under Bay Road. Next spring they will find a brand new ladder, and a level culvert under the road that will allow them to swim upstream faster.

And at Lower Red Brook in Bourne, river herring can only access a culvert under the railroad berm during high tides, and at low tides must wait around and avoid being eaten by big fish and birds.   Next spring, they will be able to reach the culvert during more of the tidal cycle thanks to the construction of rock weirs.

MEET THE STAFF: Abigail Franklin, Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager

Abigail Franklin likes to encourage others to see a project from the river herring's point of view.

By Loryn Dion, Public Affairs Intern, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Even when Abigail Franklin was a young girl, building pretend-fish ladders out of couch cushions with her brother rather than forts like the other kids, it was already obvious what her career would be. Now working as the Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager with the Cape Cod Conservation District in Massachusetts, anyone can tell that Abigail is passionate about what she does.

Abigail is working on the Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project (CCWRRP), a collaborative project of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Cape Cod Conservation District, and the Barnstable County Commissioners, with cooperation from other federal, state and local agencies.

The project will restore salt marshes, recover fish passage and improve water quality for shellfish beds. The plan identifies 76 sites throughout Cape Cod for possible restoration including 26 stormwater discharge sites, 26 tidally-restricted salt marshes and 24 obstructed fish passages.

As project manager, Abigail’s job involves keeping track of permits and deadlines, answering questions, and resolving issues, sometimes by just putting people in the same room together to discuss construction plans.  “I also like to encourage others to see the project from the river herring’s point of view,” says Abigail.

River herring are a source of food for commercially and recreationally important species like Atlantic Cod and Striped Bass. The CCWRRP has so many beneficial and diverse projects planned, that it’s difficult for Abigail to pick one that she’s most excited about.

“All of the projects are so different and each important in their own way. The Cedar Lake project in Falmouth will replace a deteriorating fish ladder and road culvert to maintain river herring access to spawning grounds. In contrast, at Lower Red Brook in Bourne, river herring are only able to reach a culvert during high tide, which leaves them vulnerable to predators at low tide. Weirs will be constructed to allow the fish to swim to the culvert during more of the tidal cycle,” says Abigail.

The position was Abigail’s dream job and exactly what she was qualified for with her BA in Natural Science from Hampshire College and her MS from UMass Amherst in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation. One of her favorite parts of her job is talking with people out in the field.

 “I love being outside and speaking with natural resource managers and citizens who are enthusiastic and so proud and protective of their herring runs.”

Sunken Meadow salt marsh restoration, Eastham: construction is complete!

An excavator removes the berm at Sunken Meadow.

by Martha Rheinhardt, Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager, Cape Cod Conservation District

Removal of the 610-foot long earthen berm at Sunken Meadow in Eastham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod has been completed! This berm had separated two salt marshes for over 100 years.  The Eastham Department of Public Works and the Natural Resources Department teamed up to send out a well-organized crew for the removal of the berm, removal of an old, under-sized culvert and re-building of the creek bank. Despite the cold and wind, and occasional snowfall, the crew worked flawlessly. 

The excavator and “The Crawler,” a tracked carrier, were a particularly effective team. Not a motion was lost by the excavator operator, and The Crawler was able to travel back and forth along the berm without having to make any turns, thanks to its swiveling bucket.

In less than a week’s time, the berm had been removed, the area re-graded back to proper marsh elevations, and water was flowing un-impeded through the creek and up and over the new marsh surface on the spring tide. A pair of Canada geese even came by for a swim.

The new creek bank and adjacent areas will be planted this spring. The new surface of the salt marsh is expected to re-vegetate quickly on its own. The inundation of salt water to the back marsh should also help to beat back the Phragmites that has invaded the area.

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod, working together with the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, the Cape Cod Conservation District and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, will be monitoring the site to determine changes to vegetation and salinity.

This work finished well ahead of schedule thanks to the efforts of many people, including Neil Andres, Eastham DPW director; Henry Lind of the Eastham Conservation Trust; Amy Usowski, the Town of Eastham Conservation Agent; the private landowners who own the land containing the culvert and the berm and where most of the work was staged; and many others. It was a wonderfully successful team effort!

MEET THE STAFF: Martha Rheinhardt, Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager

Martha Rheinhardt loves being in the field.

by Loryn Dion, Public Affairs Intern, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Martha Craig Rheinhardt feels energized knowing that she is able to go to work doing something that she loves. A long-time resident of Cape Cod, Martha is currently working as the Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager with the Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project, a collaborative project of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Cape Cod Conservation District, and the Barnstable County Commissioners, with cooperation from other federal, state and local agencies.

The project will restore salt marshes, recover fish passage and improve water quality for shellfish beds. The plan identifies 76 sites throughout Cape Cod for possible restoration including 26 stormwater discharge sites, 26 tidally-restricted salt marshes and 24 obstructed fish passages.

Martha is in charge of managing all salt marsh restoration projects. Her responsibilities include coordinating among all of the projects’ partners and sponsoring agencies, helping the projects stay on schedule and paying close attention to details to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks. “This makes it easier to avoid potential problems before they happen,” says Martha.

Martha describes her work as her “perfect job.” She was working on the Cape as a wetland consultant and had heard a lot about the Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project. She knew wanted to help in some way. “I saw the job posting last summer and had multiple people forward me the ad, encouraging me to apply,” says Martha, adding that her work on the project is something she loves to do and it is very rewarding to her.

“When I was younger, growing up, in part, on the Cape, my parents and grandparents taught me to love and respect the water. After finishing graduate school in Virginia, I knew I wanted to come back to the Cape,” says Martha, who received her BA in Biology from Smith College before attending the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary to achieve her MS in Marine Science with a concentration in Wetland Ecology and Coastal Resource Management.

The CCWRRP wrapped up its first project in early March, where the Town of Eastham removed an earthen berm and a culvert from the Sunken Meadow Marsh, part of which is a former cranberry bog, in Eastham, Mass. Martha was there to witness the results. “I got to see the tide flow to the new marsh over the area where the earthen berm used to be located. The tide was really high that day, so it was amazing to see,” says Martha.

Martha enjoys working on the project with people who share the same love for restoration and the Cape that she does. She also likes working with the public and seeing the positive impact of her work on the environment. “I just love being in the field.”