http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Morning%20Edition%2008-01-2012.mp3
The name Anguilla Brook is actually taken from the genus name for the American eel, Anguilla rostrata. But eels have been scare in the stream for decades, in part to an old dam that has blocked the eel and alewife from migrating upstream. Now, thanks to a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, that dam will be removed, and replaced with a new dam a half mile upstream that will include a fish ladder.
"This particular fish ladder is going to be constructed using stones from the removal of the Rutan Dam and it will essentially be like steps of water," said Sally Harold, Connecticut Director of Migratory Fish Projects for the Nature Conservancy, who is spearheading the project.
"These fish can only achieve a difference in elevation of about 4-6 inches so we'll create small pools of water that will essentially be watery steps."
When completed, the two pronged project will open a 13 mile passage of the stream for migrating fish to return to their historic migrating habitat. It is expected that eels and alewives will eventually thrive in Anguilla Brook.
"We'll have generations of alewives returning and as passage is available, those fish will go upstream and spawn, then leave the brook to mature out in saltwater," said Harold. "We may start off with a few hundred next spring when they come back and in a decade or so when we've had a few generations of these alewifes, we could see thousands of these fish upstream."
According to the Nature Conservancy, Anguilla Brook is just one of perhaps hundreds of Connecticut streams and rivers with old dams impeding migratory fish species.
