08/29/2026
My latest article, it didn't make it into the Hampton Union so I copied it here. It is a little long for a post. Hope you enjoy.
Ellen
Meet the baitfish that power the Gulf of Maine’s food web
Ellen Goethel
Portsmouth Herald
Aug. 25, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
Fishermen talk about baitfish all the time, but what is a baitfish?
I would consider any fish eaten by another to be bait, but when scientists or fishermen talk about them, they are referring to small fish that school.
In the Gulf of Maine this summer, there are loads of bait schooling around. Let’s start with the smallest, the tiny fish that live entirely in the estuaries and saltmarsh. These are mummichogs, silversides and sticklebacks. These tiny schooling fish feed the juvenile animals that spend the summer in the saltmarsh/estuary complex, like flounder. Many marsh birds feed on them along with the juvenile crustaceans.
Next, we have sand eels, or sand lance as the scientists like to call them. Like many animals in the sea, these two common names for the same fish have caused great angst at many public fishery meetings. I attended a meeting where the scientists were trying to start a co-operative research project with a group of fishermen to study sand lance. They were confusing each other by using different names for the same animal. It took a very savvy fisherman to finally plainly explain to both parties that they were talking about the same thing!
Sand lance are small, long, skinny fish that resemble an eel, thus the fishermen’s nickname for them. At night they burrow into the sand, hiding from their enemies. These small animals are eaten by just about everything, from other baitfish like mackerel to cod, haddock, and whales. While collecting animals for my tanks at the Oceanarium at Seabrook Harbor early one morning, I was astounded by the millions of sand lance swimming around the dock. I was nearly dive-bombed by a flock of terns diving into the water from over my head, gorging themselves on the small fish!
The great numbers of sand lance this summer could very well be one of the reasons there has been such an increase in the tern population along our coast.
Mackerel are used as bait by tuna, striper and bluefish fishermen. Mackerel have historically arrived in the Gulf of Maine in early spring, then moved up the coast all the way to Prince Edward Island, Canada by the late summer. They then migrate back down our coast in the early fall. These are some of the larger baitfish: a pretty black-and-white patterned, sleek torpedo-shaped fish with highlights of silver and blue. Unlike many other baitfish, these are eaten by humans and happen to be one of my favorite fish. They are high in omega oils, and because of their short lifespan (as opposed to swordfish), they do not contain heavy metals.
Another baitfish that has two confusing names is the menhaden. Fishermen often call these pogies. These small oily fish eat almost exclusively plankton using filtering gillrakers. Swimming around with their mouth open, they suck up anything that is in the water. According to the “Fishes of the Gulf of Maine,” they “travel in schools of hundreds of thousands” “and each fish is capable of filtering between 6-7 gallons of water per minute!” While not considered human food fish, they are eaten by sharks, whales and almost every fish in the Gulf of Maine. As an undergrad, while working at the New England Aquarium, I had the opportunity to go out into Boston Harbor and scoop pogies from a seiner for food for the experiments going on at the aquarium. I was amazed at the size of the schools of these fish and how easy they were to catch!
Herring and alewives are not the same fish but are often caught together in the same school. Herring, or sea herring, are another oily fish, deep silvery blue, reaching an average of 7-10 inches. They feed mostly on copepods (a large macroplankton, usually red in color) and shrimp. "Fishes of the Gulf of Maine" cited scientists who have found young herring, fish eggs and sand lance in herring stomachs. In turn, they are eaten by just about every fish, including other baitfish, like mackerel. Schools of other fish often chase schools of herring up onto the shore in pursuit of a meal.
Alewives are also called river herring because they swim into the rivers along the Gulf of Maine and spawn there. New Hampshire Fish and Game describe them as “silvery colored fish with a grayish green back, large scales, and a deep, laterally compressed body. The belly scales converge into a sharp edge, which gives it the nickname “sawbelly.” These fish really depend on being able to swim “upstream” to spawn. The damming of the streams and rivers has greatly diminished their numbers. Recent dismantling of many dams has increased their ability to spawn in some areas.
All of these baitfish have been seen in great numbers this summer. This bodes well for the other species that rely on them. Giant bluefin tuna on their migration north have lots of food to fatten up before their southern or eastern migration. Some of the tuna migrate east to European waters and need to build up fat to give them enough energy for the long trip.
The whale watching was great this summer also. The closer the bait is to the coast, the closer the whales come, and the longer they stay. The Gulf of Maine ecosystem this summer is looking good for the migrating fish, and everyone seems to have plenty to eat!
Ellen Goethel is a marine biologist and the owner of Explore the Ocean World Oceanarium at 367 Ocean Blvd. at Hampton Beach
