Abstract: River herring (alewife and blueback herring) are anadromous alosines that play important ecological roles and historically comprised major U.S. fisheries. Stocks are at historically low levels Atlantic coast-wide, which lead to a status review to determine if listing as Threatened species was warranted. In August 2013 National Marine Fisheries Service declined to list the species, but initiated a coastwide conservation planning process to fill some of the research gaps, address uncertainty in the data, and revisit the status of both species with new information. The Plan will identify important conservation efforts that can be implemented to help restore river herring throughout their entire range from Canada to Florida, track the implementation of these efforts, identify research needed to fill in critical data gaps, and monitor the progress of restoring these important species. Interdisciplinary working groups focused on habitat, climate change, fisheries management, genetics, stock status, species interactions, and ecosystem integration. This session will explore the findings to date of the Habitat working group including threats, strategies, research priorities, and current cooperative research related to habitat drivers of river herring status such as connectivity, landuse, water quality and water quantity. Since river herring occupy a wide range of ecosystems along the entire East Coast of North America, identifying and addressing significant threats to river herring may provide important benefits to other diadromous and riverine species.