A creek that plays a crucial role in the annual migration of alewife and herring received a major overhaul earlier this week. 

The Big Mussachuck Creek, which runs between Narragansett Bay and Brickyard Pond in Barrington, provides a pathway for the herring traveling between the saltwater bay, where adult herring live, and freshwater pond, where young herring spawn.

However, over the past decade or so, this process has been increasingly disrupted due to overgrowth of invasive vegetation along the creek, and downed trees, often dragged down by the invasive vegetation. This has interrupted and slowed the herring migration, as the fish have been unable to swim up and down the obstructed creek.  

This week, a joint effort was made by Save the Bay, The Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Rhode Island Country Club to resolve this issue.  

More than a year ago, Save The Bay's Wenley Ferguson assessed the creek, and on Monday, Northern Tree Service brought a heavy duty forwarder, an excavator type vehicle on wheels which uses a grappling claw and chainsaw to cut and move trees and debris, to the Rhode Island Country Club and Legion Way section of Big Mussachuck Creek.

Using its grapple and saw to lock on to and cut up the trucks of the fallen trees, the forwarder slowly and progressively worked its way up the creek. The removal team was able to successfully clear the creek by removing around 20 downed trees, which had previously restricted water flow.

In previous years, the DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife had cared for the creek, and made efforts to keep the creek obstacle free for the migrating herring. However, the job became unmanageable when large trees, ranging in diameter from 14 to 39 inches, began falling into the creek.

As a result, Save the Bay, the DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Rhode Island Country Club created a plan to remove these fallen trees with help from a hired licensed arborist.  

The plan was recently accepted, and a Freshwater Wetlands permit was granted from the Coastal Resources Management Council. CRMC also awarded a grant of $5,000 out of their Coastal Habitat Restoration Trust Fund for the completion of the work. 

The successful clearing of Big Mussachuck Creek was not just a big win for the herring, however. Young herring that spawn in Brickyard Pond serve as the base of the pond’s food chain, them being an important food source for bass living in the pond.  

Adult herring, which, after maturity leave Brickyard Pond and swim back through Big Mussachuck Creek to the bay, serve as a food source for striped bass and bluefish there. Had there not been an effort to clear Big Mussachuck Creek to allow for herring migration and spawning, these fish, as well as herring, would have been negatively affected.  

Now, thanks to Save the Bay, The Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Rhode Island Country Club, these fish can feed, and the Brickyard Pond and bay ecosystem can flourish.