The Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) is the most secretive of the secretive marsh birds and one of the least understood bird species in North America. The Eastern Black Rail (L. j. jamaicensis) is listed as endangered in five states along the Atlantic Coast and is under review for federal listing. Historical population size was likely in the tens of thousands but is now believed to be in the hundreds or low thousands (Watts 2016). Within the United States, Eastern Black Rails breed within three general geographic areas within the United States - the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast and the Midwest-Great Plains. The Atlantic Coast has generally been considered to support the largest breeding population throughout...
River herring [collectively alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis)] have been valued by human societies since pre-colonial times, but populations have undergone a dramatic coast-wide decline over the past five decades (ASMFC 2012, NFWF 2012). Declines in river herring have sparked a series of conservation and restoration measures, including dam removal, extensive moratoria on directed harvest, caps on bycatch (e.g., in the Atlantic herring fishery), designation as a species of concern both at Federal and State levels, and petitions for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) identified alewife and blueback herring...
