SEYMOUR, Conn. (AP) — July 21, 2013 — The completion of a $4.75 million bypass channel around the Tingue Dam will allow fish once again to migrate to prime spawning areas on the Naugatuck River in Beacon Falls and Naugatuck.
Historically, migratory fish, in particular Atlantic salmon and shad, were able to make their way up the river unrestricted. But the fish were unable to reach their spawning grounds after a number of dams were constructed during the state's industrial development, said Steve Gephard, supervisor of inland fisheries for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
"My program seeks to restore the runs of migratory fish like the American shad, blueback herring and alewives," said Gephard, who will oversee the new fishway.
Part of the plan involves bypassing the Tingue Dam, located in downtown Seymour and a short distance from Town Hall, which is the last barrier fish encounter on their way upstream to waters in Thomaston, he said. That means building a fishway, formerly known as a "fish ladder." The structure can sometimes have the appearance of steps, or a "ladder." A step-like fishway was constructed about a mile from the Tingue Dam in 1999.
The proposed bypass is a channel that will open up another 20 miles of the river to migrating fish, allowing them to make their way to Beacon Falls and Naugatuck.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Connecticut Post