Kickemuit River Fish Passage Media Event

WARREN, May 1-- Officials announced the completion of a $340,000 fish ladder that will allow herring to swim into the reservoir from the river below. About 75 people gathered at the headquarters of the Bristol County Water Authority, which owns the Kickemuit Reservoir, to celebrate the restoration of a crucial fish habitat. "It's nice to see all these organizations here and see there's still a fight for Mother Earth," said Ed Page, a member of the Pocasset Indian tribe, which once fished the waters of the Kickemuit. "It's a beautiful thing."

It has been more than a century since herring swam up the Kickemuit River to spawn in freshwater before going back out to sea. The Kickemuit Reservoir Dam, built in the late 1800s, blocked the passage of migrating herring, preventing them from spawning in the upper portions of the river. But through the work of a host of federal, state and local groups, the historic fish run has been restored. During that long wait, more grants became available for fish ladders and similar endeavors, said Jane Harrison, secretary of the Warren Conservation Commission. "The environmental atmosphere changed," she said. "Habitat restoration had become very popular."

"The construction of the new fish ladder on the Kickemuit is part of "a much larger effort to reconnect all the river systems of Narragansett Bay." "There are plans to restore herring runs throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts, and projects are under way on the Wood-Pawcatuck, Blackstone, Pawtuxet, Palmer and Taunton rivers, according to Tom Ardito, of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program. Curt Spalding, executive director of Save the Bay, said, "This bay had fish running up it and going down. We're restoring the Bay as a living estuary." Henry "The Hawk" Edmonds, chief of the Pokanoket Wampanoag tribe, said his ancestors used to fish for herring in the Kickemuit. He said they would be proud of the restoration of the marine habitat. "We're all committed in this universe," he said. "When you break the circle of life, you eventually die."

Besides the Natural Resources Conservation Service, this project was partnered with the Town of Warren, the Warren Conservation Commission, , the DEM, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Center, the Kickemuit River Council, Save the Bay, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, the Bristol County Water Authority, the Narragansett Bay Shellfish Restoration Foundation, the Narragansett Estuary Program, Power Generation and Electric, the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and the United State Fish and Wildlife Service.


 

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