>> THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, NEW ENGLAND'S LONGEST RUNNING RIVER
AT OVER 400 MILES, HOSTS A NUMBER OF SPECIES OF ANNADROMUSS
FISH.
THESE ARE FISH THAT SPEND THE EARLY PORTION OF THEIR LIVES IN
FRESH WATER AND THEIR ADULT LIVES IN SALT WATER, ONLY TO
RETURN TO THE FRESH WATER TO SPAWN.
WITH MIGRATION SEASON ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AWAY, CONNECTING
POINT'S BRIAN SULLIVAN TRAVELED TO SEVERAL SPOTS ALONG THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER TO CHECK IN ON THIS ANNUAL RITE OF NATURE.
>> FISH LADDERS AND FISH WAVES WHERE THEY EXIST SO DO FOOD
HAMLETS.
THE DESIGN ALLOWS FOR MIGRATING FISH TO QUITE LITERALLY CLIMB
AGAINST THE CURRENT AND OVER THE DAM WHICH IN THE CASE OF THE ONE
HERE AT MILL STREET IN EAST HAMPTON STANDS AT 6 FEET IN
HEIGHT AND GOES TO THE UPPER REACHES OF THE RIVER.
ALTHOUGH DOZENS OF FISH HAVE BEEN SPOTTED IN SINCE 2017 WITH
FISH MIGRATION SEASON SET TO START IN MAY, MANY ARE MORE
LIKELY TO SEE HERRING AND SHAD TO BE UPSPAN.
IT'S 3 MILES FROM ITS COMPLEMENTS WITH THE CONNECTICUT
RIVER AND AS ANYONE WHO'S RECENTLY PASSED OVER THE VIETNAM
VETERANS BRIDGE IN HOLYOKE CAN ATTEST, NEW ENGLAND'S LONGEST
RIVER HAS SOME MIGHTY STRONG FLOW LATELY.
HERE AT THE FISH WAY THEY EMPLOY WHAT'S KNOWN AS A FISH ELEVATOR
OR FISH LIFT TO LIFT OVER THE OLDEST DAMS IN THE STATE.
UP NORTH TRAVEL IS AROUND THIS BRIDGE HAS GOTTEN AN EYE FULL
AND EARFUL HERE AS WELL AS WATERFALLS TOUCHDOWN AT A STEADY
CLIP.
JUST BEHIND ME THE WATER IS POURING INTO THE CONNECTICUT
RIVER QUITE HEAVILY.
HOW HEAVY?
ABOUT 70,000 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND BUT THAT'S
CONDITIONS-BASED AND HIGHLY REGULATED BY THE HYDROELECTRIC
COMPANY THAT CONTROLS THE WATER.
NORMALLY DURING THE SUMMERTIME MONTHS THEIR ONLY REQUIRED AT
125 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND SO THAT'S QUITE A CONTRAST AND TO
MY LEFT IS THE POWER CANAL AND THAT STAYS AT A STEADY HEIGHT
AND DEPTH YEAR-ROUND AND FLOWS 2 MILES DOWNSTREAM TO A RESEARCH
FACILITY THAT STUDIES AMONG OTHER THINGS FISH MIGRATION IN
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER.
THE NAME MIGHT BE THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BUT BIOLOGY IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY AT THE TURNERS FALLS CAMPUS.
HERE AT THE WET LAB THEY STUDY AQUATIC LIFE.
>> THIS IS ALL THE SPECIES THAT INCLUDES STURGEON, RIVER
HERRING, SHAD, SALMON, STRIPED BASS THAT MIGRATE TO FRESHWATER
AND SPAWN THERE; SPEND GENERALLY A VARIABLE PERIOD IN FRESHWATER
BUT THEN HAVE TO MOVE TO THE OCEAN FOR THE MAJOR GROWTH PHASE
OF THEIR LIFE HISTORY BUT THEN COME BACK AGAIN TO FRESHWATER
FOR SPAWNING.
>> THE SHORT NOSED SPURGEON IS A LANDLOCKED WHICH UTILIZING THE
RIVER YEARLONG WITHOUT HAVING TO MOVE.
MCCORMICK SPECIES IS THE ATLANTIC STURGEON WHICH CAN
SPEND ANYWHERE FROM 20 TO 40 YEARS IN THE OCEAN BEFORE
RETURNING TO SPAWN AND THAT SOMEWHAT PREHISTORIC LOOK ABOUT
THEM, THAT'S NO ACCIDENT.
STURGEON OR SPECIES LIKE THEIRS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 275 MILLION
YEARS, MAKING THEM ONE OF THE OLDEST VERT BRAT AQUATIC SPECIES
AND THEY'RE BEING STUDY AT THE USGS.
>> WE WANT TO STUDY THE EXISTING PONGSES AND, HOPEFULLY, IN THE
LONG-TERM EXPAND THE ATLANTIC STURGEON WHICH HAS SUFFERED WITH
HABITAT BY THE DAMS.
WE WANT TO PROVIDE CLEANER RIVERS WE WANT TO PROVIDE BETTER
FISH PASSAGE, REMOVE DAMS THAT ARE NOT ADDING TO THE SOCIAL
GOOD AND GET RID OF THOSE SO THEY'RE NOT AN IMPACT OF FISH
MOVING UP AND DOWNSTREAM.
>> MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAB IS A SPECIES THAT
HOLLYWOOD HAS ENJOYED TURNING THE THING OF NIGHTMARES ALTHOUGH
AT THIS POINT IN THEIR LIVES THEY DON'T SEEM SO TERRIFYING.
THIS IS AN EEL STARTS IN FRESHWATER.
THEY DON'T BECOME PARASITIC UNTIL THEY HEAD OUT TO SEA AS
THEY MATURE INTO ADULTS AND THEY DON'T EVEN REMOTELY RESEMBLE THE
MAN EATING MONSTERS OF HORROR MOVIE LORE.
SOME PEOPLE EAT THEM.
>> I'M FROM PORTUGAL AND THEY'RE LIKE A DELICA COUNTER Y AND I
WAS ALWAYS INTRIGUED BY THE ASPECT OF THE SEA LION PREY
THAT'S THREATENING IN LOOKS BUT NOT THREATENING WHATSOEVER.
>> IN FRESHWATER THE LAND PREY IS A SOURCE OF FOODS FOR FISH
AND MALLAMS WHILE BRINGING NUTRIENTS FOR THE ECOSYSTEM FOR
SCIENTISTS THEIR BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ARE A VALUABLE SOURCE OF
ECOLOGICAL MATERIAL.
>> THEY ARE WITH REGULAR FISHES THAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT FOR MORE
THAN 550 MILLION YEARS SO THEY HAVE BEEN LONGER HERE THAN, FOR
INSTANCE, DINOSAURS AND THAT BY ITSELF IS BAG STUDYING A SPECIES
THAT HAS BEEN COEXISTING WITH SO MANY EVOLUTIONARY PEERS IN THEIR
HISTORY AND THEY'RE STILL AROUND AND THEY'RE STILL THRIVING WELL.
>> FISH WAVES FOUND IN EAST HAMPTON, HOLYOKE AND JUST UP THE
ROAD UP HERE AT TURNERS FALLS ARE A MEANS FOR THEM TO CONTINUE
TO THRIVE.
THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING BETTER FISH WAYS, WELL,
THEY CAN BE FOUND AT THE CENTERS FISH FACILITY WHERE DURING FISH
MIGRATION THEY TAKE IN WATER FROM THE POWER CANAL AND RUN IT
THROUGH ANY ONE OF THESE 3 FLUMES HERE ON THE BOTTOM FLOOR
TO TEST DIFFERENT PASSAGEWAYS.
>> THERE'S REALLY NO FACILITY LIKE THIS IN THE WORLD THAT CAN
DO THAT.
THERE'S OTHER HYDRAULIC LABS BUT THEY'RE USUALLY QUITE SMALL AND
OUR ABILITY TO MOVE LARGE VOLUMES OF WATER THROUGH THESE
STRUCTURES BASICALLY SIMULATES WHAT A FISH WOULD BE
EXPERIENCING WHEN IT WENT THROUGH ONE OF THESE STRUCTURES.
>> AND TO SIMULATE THAT SIMULATION, THEY'VE GOT A LAB
FOR THAT HERE TOO BECAUSE THIS PLACE IS AFTER ALL A RESEARCH
FACILITY, NOT A FISH HATCHERY.
THIS IS WHERE SAFER AND MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS OF FISH PASSAGE
ARE DESIGNED AND SPECIES OF FISH THAT MAY NOT BE AS WELL KNOWN
BUT ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT TO THE ECOSYSTEM ARE STUDIED.
>> OUR PURPOSE IS TO REALLY KIND OF EDUCATE PEOPLE AS TO WHAT'S
OUT THERE, WHAT DO THEY NEED IN ORDER TO SURVIVE AND TO THRIVE
IN RIVER SYSTEMS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO RESTORE.
>> THAT RESTORATION COULD INCLUDE THE CONNECTICUT RIVER.
THE WATER MAY BE FLOWING IN ABUNDANCE NOW BUT THIS IS BY NO
STRETCH THE NORM, HOWEVER, THE HYDROELECTRIC PLANT IN TURNERS
FALLS IS GOING THROUGH A RELICENSING PROCESS AND WHAT
COULD BE CREATED WITH BETTER WATER FLOW WHICH WOULD BENEFIT
NOT JUST THE CREATURES LIVING UNDERWATER.
>> PUTTING MORE WATER IN THE RIVER WOULD ALSO BE GOOD FOR
RECREATION.
PEOPLE GO DOWN HERE AND THEY FISH AND PEOPLE WANT TO USE IT
FOR PADDLING AND WE'RE HOPING THAT WITH WATER ACTUALLY IN THE
RIVER PEOPLE CAN USE THAT FOR ALL THEIR ACTIVITIES.