Watch Mystic River Herring Migration and Help Count the Fish!

ARLINGTON, MA — The Mystic River's herring migration this spring will be broadcast 24 hours day thanks to a new project led by the Mystic River Watershed Association.

A motion-sensor underwater camera at the Upper Mystic Lake dam fish ladder in Medford will record and upload clips in real time to the new project website. You can see and even count how many fish are migrating up the Mystic, helping researchers track how the herring migration changes over time. It only takes a few seconds to help record the number.

Last year about 448,060 river herring swam by Everett, Somerville, Medford and Arlington to go to the Mystic Lakes – a seven-mile upstream journey.

The fish come from the ocean into fresh water each spring when water temperatures reach 55 degrees. The run lasts until about June.

“Every spring, we have a phenomenal wildlife migration right here in the Mystic River, but few people know about it and even fewer get to see it,” said Patrick Herron, Executive Director of the Mystic River Watershed Association. “This project will change that. We hope to engage thousands of people in counting fish and acting as citizen scientists. We have found that counting is fun and addictive!”

To learn more and to help document the herring migration see www.mysticherring.org/

For more information see www.MysticRiver.org