I was e-mail queried the other day by an unknown reader who, it turned out, was a blogger interested in my opinion about continuing the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program, which began in 1967 with the now impossible goal of establishing a viable sport fishery. The question read: “Gary, is it fair to say […]

Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009 What you see is what you get. That’s about the status of anadromous-fish passage here in the Happy Valley. If you’re content with maybe 200 Atlantic salmon and less than 200,000 American shad annually, rejoice, you’ve got it. Want more? Too bad. Ain’t happening anytime soon. Not now or ever. […]

Octogenarian Edward M. Wells, a former Braintree educator enjoying blissful retirement nestled in Leyden’s gentle hills, has issues with our Connecticut River Atlantic salmon-restoration effort. First, he’s tired of stocked salmon progeny interfering with his native brook-trout angling along shaded, backwoods, Franklin County streams; second, he’s tired of the propaganda. Wells was so stirred up […]

June 27, 2007 A recent development relating to Connecticut River anadromous fish must have officials worried, and this issue has nothing to do with Atlantic salmon. Yes, the salmon numbers are still pathetic. That’s a constant. But now there are storm clouds hovering over other marine species that migrate upriver annually to spawn, namely river […]

Published June 16, 2006 About the only thing you can confidently predict about the spring anadromous fish runs in the Connecticut River and elsewhere in New England is that they’re unpredictable. Other than that, it’s a crapshoot. Many factors must be considered when analyzing the status of American shad, Atlantic salmon and other migratory fish […]