Small Boats. Big Science. Speaker Series Videos
March 5, 2026 – River Herring Restoration: Is Cape Cod Ready for Limited Harvests?
Guests learned about restoring the Cape’s fish passages, how to assess the health of herring runs, and how fishing regulations for vessels 100 miles offshore impact river herring. Panelists discussed the pros and cons of allowing harvest of river herring on Cape Cod, with a focus on the proposed opening of the Harwich run.
Concrete steps you can take to support river herring: River Herring Hero – Call to Action
Check out this video of our inaugural Small Boats. Big Science. event, From The Arctic to You. The event, captured by Big Tree video, features Dr. Jennifer Francis from the Woodwell Climate Research Center and Dr. Glen Gawarkiewicz from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Listen in as CEO John Pappalardo talks about the genesis of the series and Captain Eric Hesse details how climate change is impacting commercial fisheries across the Cape. Francis reveals how global warming, sea-level rise, tropical storms, and extreme weather events are all connected to the rapidly melting and warming Arctic and Gawarkiewicz discusses changes in the ocean circulation and temperature/salinity around Cape Cod in recent years.
The Ecology Around Us, a talk on the importance of marine ecosystems and how they impact our local Cape Cod communities. Presented by Dr. Dave Wiley from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Jill Thompson-Grim from the University of South Florida.