JRWA & JRL support the work of the Division of Marine Fisheries to monitor the population of Rainbow smelt in the Jones River. The project started in 2004 and continued through last year as part of an EPA funded study to evaluate the health of the population. We look forward to participating more actively and helping to maintain the schedule of net deployment and hauling. Brad Chase, senior fisheries biologist for DMF, has been a featured speaker at JRWA annual meetings and will return again to discuss his findings. The information is extremely valuable as a measure of how smelt are doing in the Jones, which previously boasted the largest Massachusetts population of the little fish, and nationally. Now stocks are seriously depleted and we need to engage in habitat enhancements here, and protection of the species against further decline.

Report download coming soon. Also read our letter to the NRC on the impacts of the colling water intake of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on the Jones River Rainbow smelt population and other fishes (coming soon).

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