Puffin stuff: Herring rules could boost funny-looking bird

Puffin stuff: Herring rules could boost funny-looking bird

BATH, Maine (AP) “” The commercial fishery for herring has suffered in recent years due to new restrictions, but those same rules could benefit some of Maine's most beloved birds “” puffins.Atlantic puffins, known for their colorful beaks and waddling walks, were once nearly gone from Maine, the only U.S. state where they nest. Decades of conservation work have brought Maine's population of the birds to about 1,300 pairs that nest on small islands off the coast.Those same Gulf of Maine waters are an important area for the U.S. herring fishery. The fishery has had to contend with quota cuts in recent years because of federal efforts to protect the fish's population, and more restrictions are on the way. ADVERTISEMENTThe U.S. catch of herring, based mostly in Maine and Massachusetts, fell from more than 200 million pounds in 2014 to less than 25 million pounds in 2019.Puffins are dependent on small fish to survive, and new protections to the herring population could help them do that, said Don Lyons, director of conservation science for the National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine."Herring are certainly a key food source for puffins. The kind of fish they do best on, that