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Date: 5/11/2021
EASTHAMPTON – The Easthampton Fish Ladder, which allows for fish to pass through the dam on Manhan River, will officially open to the public every Friday afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m. until July 1.
People looking to visit the ladder must contact the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) to schedule an appointment. According to Greg Nuttelman, director of the city’s DPW, the city will schedule appointments in 30-minute windows for each group of visitors during those two hours each Friday.
“It’s not a big area; the space is kind of limited,” said Nuttelman, with regard to where people will visit. Because of that, he said that there will most likely be a limit of five people per family or group visiting the ladder at once.
According to Melissa Grader, a fish and wildlife biologist from the New England Field Office for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the fish ladder has been in operation since 2014. Over that time, it has passed at least eight different species of fish, including anadromous species like Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, American shad, and river herring, as well as riverine resident species like trout and white sucker.
“Currently, the largest runs of fish are the lamprey and sucker runs,” said Grader. “The hope is that river herring and shad runs will increase over time.”
Grader added that there are a number of benefits to allowing “volitional movement” of fish within a river like the Manhan. Oftentimes, where a fish spawns and where a fish feeds are in two different places. If they are in two different locations, then a fish needs to have the ability to move between those different environments. If a fish cannot move to cooler tributaries during the summer, then many fish could die.
“For diadromous fish, restricting access to freshwater habitat means there are more fish in a smaller space, leading to potential competition for space and food resources,” said Grader, who added that there has not been a change in migration patterns in the Easthampton ladder.
Generally, white suckers are the first to make upstream movements, and then river herring, closely followed by American shad and sea lamprey. The migration run usually starts in April and continues into early July. Use of the ladder has been documented as late as November, according to Grader.
The Easthampton fish ladder was designed to potentially allow for public access, according to Grader. “There is a viewing deck platform where the public can see the exit area of the ladder, though there is grating over the ladder for safety” she said.
There is also a stairway that goes down to the ladder and allows people to view downstream at the ladder and upstream where the fish exit the ladder and pass back into the Manhan River above the dam. A video cave is also utilized in the ladder exit area where fish use is being monitored.
“The area is quite small and not intended to be a traditional public viewing window,” said Grader. “The monitoring system does record usage and there are a number of ways those recordings could be shared to the public.”
People who want to set an appointment to visit the fish ladder can do so by contacting the Easthampton DPW by email or phone. Their email is dpw@easthamptonma.gov and their phone number is 529-1410.