Hickory shad Hickory shad Hickory shad ("Alosa mediocris") is a member of the herring family Clupeidae, ranging along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to the Gulf of Maine. It is an anadromous fish species, meaning that it spawns in freshwater portions of rivers but spends most of its life at sea. It is subject to fishing, both historic and current, but it is often confused with or simply grouped together with catch statistics for American shad ("Alosa sapidissima"). Hickory shad ranges from northern Florida to the Gulf of Maine. The largest populations occur in Chesapeake Bay and coastal
Coonamesset River while environmental awareness has increased, bringing the conservation goal to the fore. While the Coonamessett maintained a healthy herring run for many years alongside Cranberry cultivation, in recent years the herring run has undergone a massive decline, following a similar decrease across New England which has been widely attributed to at-sea factors external to the rivers. In 2004, fish counters saw only 640 fish and the only about 2000 herring returned to spawn. Concern over the herring run and the disappearance of sea run trout has led to a consensus in the Town for better protection and improvement of the