Centuries before the Town of Pembroke was incorporated, Namassakeesett – the Native American name for the region, meaning “place of much fish” – was known for its herring. As far back as 1616, the seasonal herring runs sustained Indigenous communities and later fed early Colonial settlers. Colonial records cite herring as a vital food source for New England’s first inhabitants. The species that spawns in Pembroke’s ponds is the alewife, a river herring. Protection of the fis