Ten Mile River Herring Scoop

The Ten Mile River Watershed Council conducted its annual herring scoop and cleanup at Omega Pond Dam in East Providence on Saturday. Last year over 200 herring were netted and transferred during the scoop. For many years the scoop was done by an informal group of fishermen as they collected fish for bait. Now the taking of fish is prohibited and all the scooped fish go into the pond.

Soon the scoop won't be necessary. Three fish ladders will be going up on the Ten Mile River, starting this summer with the Hunts Mills and Turner Reservoir. This could eventually result in a run of over 200,000 herring. The river is also an historic shad run with a potential for 25,000 fish. An eelway will also be installed for American eel which migrate upstream as juveniles after spawning in the Sargasso Sea.

The project is a partnership of the Army Corps of Engineers, the DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife, the City of East Providence, the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and Save The Bay. You can read more about the project on our Ten Mile River web page.