SPRING DIADROMOUS FISH RUNS:
The spring fish runs ended in June with the following highlights: American Shad in the Connecticut River experienced the third highest total in the 50-year history of the restoration program, with 543,896 fish passed over the Holyoke Dam in Massachusetts. This is higher than the 385,930 passed last year but significantly less than the record of 721,764 in 1992. A fair run of American Shad in the Shetucket River with 1,912 fish passed at the Greeneville Dam, compared to 2,669 last year. American Shad counts at this facility tend to fluctuate from year to year and this year’s count ranks below both the long term average and the ten year average. Twenty adult Atlantic Salmon returned to the Connecticut River this spring, up from last year’s total of five. All other states in the Connecticut River watershed discontinued stocking salmon in 2013. Starting in 2018 any adult salmon returning to the river will likely have originated from Connecticut.
Runs of Alewife were better than the past two years in many locations. The run to Bride Brook had dropped for the third straight year prior to this year’s record return of 386,325 fish. Runs of Blueback Herring were poor just about everywhere. In the Connecticut River, sampling in places like Wethersfield Cove and the lower Farmington River yielded low numbers. Passage numbers at the Holyoke Fish Lift were up slightly from recent years but do not compare to historic lift counts.
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