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| Wild & Scenic | Trash | Fishway Open House | Flora & Fauna | Upcoming Events | |
Sunday, May 23 turned out to be a great day weather-wise, but few fish were observed moving past the DSI/FiberMark dam in West Springfield during WRWA's annual open house at the fishway/eelway. Several shad and lampreys had been delayed overnight at the facility, but were allowed to move on upstream early in the morning by Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife staffers. Some late afternoon visitors did get a chance to see a shad through the facility's viewing window. Altogether more than 300 people toured the fishway/eelway, most having been diverted from Rt. 20 by several brightly colored tagboard signs. They were greeted by WRWA volunteers, who staffed some informational displays at the edge of the parking area and escorted visitors on the half-mile walk to the fishway itself. The fishway, which has been operational for nearly a decade now, allows a variety of species to move upstream past the dam. During the spring DFW staffers monitor the movement of fish, paying particular attention to migrating Atlantic Salmon. Most of the salmon are trapped and taken to hatcheries, where they are used to produce the eggs that hatch into the fry that are stocked each spring in the Westfield River and other tributaries of the Connecticut River. Every tenth fish, however, gets a truck ride around the large dams on the upper Westfield River and a chance to spawn naturally in some of the best salmon habitat in New England. The fish counts from the West Springfield site (and also from the Holyoke Dam and others) can be accessed online at http://www.fws.gov/r5crc/fish/daily.html. Kathy Meyer did most of the organizing and publicity for this year's event, and Matt DelMonte, Gabe Khatchadourian, Ron Lucassen, Kathy Meyer, Joan Pearsons, Eileen Rannenberg, Ken Taylor, Henry Warchol, and Mike Young all volunteered to help with the information booth and/or tours. |
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