Every spring, rainbow smelt spawn in the rivers and estuaries surrounding Great Bay. Unfortunately, migratory populations of rainbow smelt have declined in recent decades. With the help of citizen scientists, this research will help future managers better protect and enhance populations of rainbow smelt and revive a threatened ice fishery. During the training, we will have a brief presentation on the importance of rainbow smelt, and go over protocols and methods volunteers will use in the field! Once trained, volunteers will have the opportunity to sign up for an active role assisting in counting, measuring, scale collection, and data recording at various monitoring sites. Monitoring occurs from March to mid-April at the Oyster, Squamscott, and Winnicut Rivers.

Space is limited. Please sign up to reserve a spot and learn more about these fishy spring opportunities!