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Fisheries

Manomet’s Fisheries team works to promote resilient and productive coastal ecosystems and communities through applied science and community engagement. Our work focuses on the Gulf of Maine, an area experiencing rapid climate-induced warming and immense ecological and social change. We work in partnership with coastal communities, fishers, and other industry members to co-develop climate change adaptation strategies that build greater social, ecological, and economic resilience. Goals Resilient fishing communities: Collaborate with fishers, harvesters, coastal communities, and resource managers to identify and implement strategies to diversify fishing operations, improve co-management, prepare for climate change impacts, and build equitable access to marine resources. Habitat and resource restoration: Work with partners to identify and restore key coastal resources and habitats to improve overall ecosystem health,...

Coastal Zone Initiative

Healthy ecosystems and vibrant wildlife populations are critical to ensuring that human communities thrive. The Coastal Zone Initiative (CZI) is committed to addressing these issues and working toward maintaining and restoring resilient habitats that benefit wildlife and people. Manomet CZI works to increase the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material (BUDM) for habitat restoration and resource protection in the US. For decades dredged materials were simply viewed as a “Spoil” and something that need to be disposed. An effort is underway to treat these sediments as a resource to nourish our coasts and associated habitats. We facilitate conversations among Federal, State, Local, and NGO partners to identify lessons learned, challenges and opportunities for coastal habitat restoration.

Sea Run Fish

Restoration of river herring is critical to rebuilding coastal ecosystems and strengthening climate resilience as the Gulf of Maine continues to warm. Manomet supports community-driven river herring stewardship and is tracking the impact of such efforts on the health of river herring runs. River herring is a collective term for two species, alewives and blueback herring. They are anadromous, which means they live primarily in the ocean and migrate upstream each spring to spawn in freshwater lakes and ponds before returning to the ocean. Historically, they have been foundational species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, comprising an important source of forage for birds, mammals, and commercially valuable species including cod and haddock. Over the last four hundred years, dams,...

Interview with Scott Johnston, US Fish and Wildlife

One of Manomet’s core beliefs is that by working in partnership, we can more effectively influence and scale our impact. One key example of this partnership is the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative (AFSI), led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Manomet serves on the Executive Committee of AFSI, working closely with Scott Johnston of the USFWS. We had the opportunity to sit down with Scott to get an update on the ASFI business plan and some of his other work. Tell us a little bit about your work at the USFWS. I am the Branch Chief for Populations in the Division of Migratory Birds, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region. The Branch of Populations focuses on waterfowl,...

Resilient Habitats

Mending nature to benefit wildlife and human communities For animals that travel tremendous distances — like migratory shorebirds that span continents, or fish that leave ocean life to spawn in rivers and streams — a diverse network of healthy and intact coastal, riverine, wetland, and grassland habitats are critical to ensuring that migratory populations thrive. At Manomet, our greatest conservation accomplishments involve our ability to work with others, integrating cutting-edge science, targeted management actions, and long-term monitoring to improve habitat. Throughout the Americas, we identify threats to nature and develop measures to alleviate pressure on the most valuable and sensitive ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems and vibrant wildlife populations are critical to ensuring that human communities thrive. Manomet is committed to understanding...

Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative

The Georgia Bight Shorebird Conservation Initiative was launched in May 2018 to address specific threats to the shorebirds dependent on the southeastern region of the Atlantic Coast. By increasing the involvement of the public, as well as state and federal agencies, we strive to build a local, holistic culture of shorebird conservation to ensure the region continues to provide the resources necessary to sustain shorebirds throughout the year. For many shorebirds our focal geographic area, which encompasses coastal South Carolina, Georgia and northeastern Florida, provides exceptional habitat. This section of the coast is studded with barrier islands and highly dynamic inlets and estuaries that support more than 300,000 shorebirds annually. The unique curved coastline of the Georgia Bight results in...

Arctic Shorebird Research

In recent decades, shorebird populations have plummeted. Without effective and immediate action, some species could disappear entirely in the coming decades. Scientists know that populations are falling precipitously, but they don’t know exactly why. Through our Arctic shorebird research, Manomet researchers hope to unlock some of the mysteries of these dramatic shorebird population declines.

American Oystercatcher Recovery

By 2009, human encroachment, habitat loss, destruction and other threats had reduced the entire North American population of American Oystercatchers to around 10,200 individuals. Our research team works to increase this number by coordinating the American Oystercatcher Working Group, which implements rangewide research and management efforts that promote the conservation of American Oystercatchers and their habitats. Manomet supports participating organizations with fundraising, coordinates the monitoring that serves as the common success measure for the initiative, and conducts research on factors limiting Oystercatcher populations. We currently manage and monitor nearly 400 nesting pairs of oystercatcher in the Northeast. Our key strategies respond directly to the issues raised in the Business Plan for the Conservation of the American Oystercatcher, and include: Predation...

Perspectives from an Arctic shorebird field camp in the Central NPRA

Each summer, Manomet scientists and partners travel to multiple field sites across the Arctic to better understand the factors driving dramatic declines in shorebird populations. Through this research, we are working to unlock the mysteries of these long-distance migrants and generate the science needed to guide conservation efforts across the Western Hemisphere. Manomet Conservation Sciences has been working in Arctic shorebird science for 25 years.  In this first field blog entry of the 2026 season, we take you to the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA)—also known as the Western Arctic—a vast 22-million-acre landscape and the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States. Here, researchers from Manomet and partner organizations are conducting breeding bird surveys as part of the...

The Small Sit | Caring for Herring: Stewarding a Sea-run Resource

WEBINAR AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH | WEBINAR DISPONIBLE EN ESPAÑOL E INGLÉS Manomet's Sea Run Fisheries Monitoring Coordinator, Anne Zegers, will introduce you to river herring, a group of small, sea-run fish that play an outsized role in coastal ecosystems, then lead you on a brief tour of the history of river herring stewardship, with stops in Maine and Massachusetts, and discuss Manomet's research into river herring stewards and stewardship. How does stewardship vary from river to river? Who are river herring stewards and what motivates them? What structures support or hinder them? Through a series of interviews with river herring stewards across the coast of Maine, Manomet and our partners at Colby College, the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, and...