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	Atlantic Salmon and the Westfield River by Henry Warchol The first barrier on the Westfield River for the Atlantic salmon is the DSI Fibermark dam in West Springfield. The fishway (fish ladder) at the dam is now seven years old. Before the fishway was built, any salmon held back by the dam were netted and transferred to a hatchery for reproducing the great numbers needed for restoration. Presently the salmon are trapped at the fishway and are transferred to the hatchery. Once the eggs hatch as fry, they are distributed in the upper main stem of the river and in its many tributaries. After spending 2+ years in the river and 2+ years in the Atlantic, they return to where they were deposited. Because of this years State budget shortfall, the fishway lost its funding to monitor and trap salmon. Caleb Slater, who is in charge of the salmon restoration project for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, was looking for ways to staff the fishway in West Springfield. The WRWA decided to help in this endeavor. I volunteered to attempt the recruiting of volunteers for the task. A great-dedicated group of volunteers came on board and put in many hours of monitoring. This year 6 salmon (one more then last year), more than 1,730 American shad, 320 sea lamprey, 5 blueback herring, 1613 white suckers, 116 smallmouth bass, 58 brown trout and 26 tiger trout used the fishway to travel upstream. The WRWA gives many thanks to the list of dedicated, conscientious and concerned volunteers. Trout Unlimited members Rex Hryniewicz, Alexander Hindmarsh, John Sinton, Stan Gula, Ted Ziskowski and Ken Witek; WRWA and AMC members Leon Pothier, Dario Masciadrelli, Diane Crowell, John Murphy, Pat Fletcher, Ronald Lucassen, Tom Eaton and Detrich Schlobohm. Stan Gula who is the editor for the local Trout Unlimited newsletter has great photos of salmon that came up the fishway on his web site (http://gula.org/dsi/ - a worthwhile visit. You may wish to read the July 2003 issue of National Geographic for additional reading on the restoration of the Atlantic salmon.