The Herring Run at Essex
Every April, a small river in Essex fills up with fish and the town turns out to watch. It is the oldest returning ritual on the North Shore, and most visitors have never heard of it.
By Dotti Maguire
Somewhere between the second and third weeks of April, depending on water temperature and the angle of the sun, a small tidal river in Essex fills up with fish. The fish are river herring. Alewives and blueback herring together, if you are keeping score. They have come in from the Atlantic to spawn in the freshwater ponds they were born in, just as they have every April on this coast for roughly 6,000 years.
Essex, a town of about 3,500 people, turns out to watch.
What You See
The Essex Herring Run happens at the Essex River, and the best viewing is at the fish ladder just upstream of the Route 133 bridge. A fish ladder is a series of stepped pools that help fish move past a small dam. In this case, the dam is old, the ladder is older, and on a good day you can stand over it and see herring stacked three and four deep, waiting their turn to jump the next pool.
The run lasts about two weeks, peaking when the water temperature hits about 50 degrees. During the peak, you will see hundreds of fish moving through the ladder per minute. It is a thing to behold. You can smell them from the road.
Why It Matters
For a long time, the Essex River was one of the most productive herring rivers in Massachusetts. The species collapsed statewide starting in the 1970s due to a combination of offshore bycatch, habitat loss, and dam building. The population in Essex hit critical lows in the early 2000s.
Then the town and the state spent twenty years fixing it. They restored wetlands upstream. They rebuilt the fish ladder. They closed the recreational and commercial take. They monitored the run obsessively. And the population, slowly, came back.
Standing over the ladder in April and watching hundreds of fish pushing upstream is watching a restoration success. It is a rare kind of thing to get to see in person.
How To Go
Free. Park at the Essex Elementary School lot or on Main Street. It is a five-minute walk to the ladder. Go on a weekday morning if you want quiet. Go on a Saturday afternoon if you want to watch the local kids climb on the railings with their parents pointing out the fish.
Bring a light jacket. The bridge gets a river wind. It is cold even when the town is warm. Bring a polarizing lens if you are shooting through the water.
Pair With Lunch
Woodman's of Essex is a mile from the ladder and has been frying clams on Route 133 since 1914. The Farm Bar & Grille is two miles up the road for a proper sit-down. The James Pub & Provisions at 55 Main Street (the 2024 reopening of the old Village Restaurant space) is the newer gastropub option.
If you are on Cape Ann in the second or third week of April, make the trip. It is the most alive the rivers on this coast ever get, and you will remember it longer than most of the other things you do that weekend.