A Fishway's First Migration

One of many benefits of being associated with the design and construction of the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Fishway was learning from Steve Gephard, the Supervisory Fisheries Biologist with Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Steve is a big deal in the fish world.

Steve and his team have been monitoring activity since we opened the fishway in early March. Last week, after snorkeling the Falls River and observing activity in the viewing window, he concluded that our fishway passed its first pre-spawned anadromous fish into the Mill Pond this year. This confirms not only that it works as designed (thank you Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates) but that fish also passed through the two fishways downstream of ours.

As Steve said in his report, “so here’s a virtual high-five!” Indeed, a big moment for us. After the pandemic forced a postponement of the April dedication ceremony, any reason to celebrate is a particularly welcome one these days.