A first-time study is under way of approximately 30 brown trout, each caught, anesthetized and fitted with an abdominal radio tag in the Deerfield River. These surgeries mark the beginning of a two-year study that will investigate the movement of brown trout in the Deerfield River. The radio tags will show where the trout are located in the river and their movement patterns. This is of interest to scientists and recreational fishermen because it will show how the trout react to the river’s daily “hydro-peaking” flows, or increases and decreases in water levels, which come from the Fife Brook hydroelectric dam releasing or withholding water.
“It’s the first time we know in Massachusetts, maybe the country, I’m not sure, but certainly in Massachusetts that we’ll be tracking the movement of trout and the impacts of a hydroelectric river,” said Michael Vito, president of Deerfield River Watershed Trout Unlimited 34, the local organization that funded the study. Presently, much of the knowledge of how trout move in the Deerfield River is anecdotal information from fishermen.
The study will collect data on how changes in water flow in the winter influence trout spawning and the data will be reviewed by biologists from the Silvio O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center, a U.S. Geological Survey laboratory in Turners Falls. A report with the data will be given to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which, Vito said, has a say in the process of the renewal of Brookfield Power’s license on the Fife Brook hydroelectric dam.
In their previous studies, Deerfield River Watershed Trout Unlimited found that winter water levels were often below the trout nests, killing the trout eggs, and the next step for scientists and Deerfield River Watershed Trout Unlimited is studying the movement of trout.
Going forward, monitoring the trout will be a large volunteer effort of “citizen-scientists,” Vito said. The radio tags will report the location of the fish to a team of volunteers, who drive adjacent to the river and pick up the trout’s radio signals with portable receivers and antennae. Data will be collected four times a week, twice in the morning and twice at night, to better understand how the hydro-peaking flows influence the trout’s movement.
On the heels of this news came the disturbing results of a chemical spill into the North River, which flows into the Deerfield.
A sulphuric acid leak reportedly was the cause of a fish kill in the North River last weekend. David Slowick, section chief for emergency response for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the leak came from a tank at the Barnhardt Manufacturing Company at about 3 a.m. Sunday. Barnhardt manufactures bleached cotton fiber products.
DEP and the state Division of Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife responded to the site and conducted testing along the stream. The acid flowed downstream from the plant to where the North River joins the Deerfield River at a spot commonly known as Sunburn Beach. The leak occurred days short of the 20th anniversary of another acid spill in the North River.
Slowick said the acid lowers the water’s pH level, burning a fish’s gills. He noted that while there were dead fish Sunday, live ones were spotted in the river. He said tests taken today indicate pH levels in the river have returned to normal.
Eric Halloran, vice president of Deerfield River Watershed Trout Unlimited, is believed to be the first person to report the dead fish. Halloran said he was doing siding work on his house along the North River shortly after noon Sunday when he started to see dead fish in and near the water.
Halloran said he first called environmental police, which he said spoke with the fish and wildlife division, which sent a biologist to the scene. This is obviously a very serious incident and there is a process by which the incident will be investigated and mitigated. There was a previous spill in 1999 and Barnhardt was fined over $28,000.
On a more pleasant subject, my bird dogs are now into the training mode. My schedule is freeing up and we are working with Pat Perry at Hedgerow Kennel and Hunt Club to get some “bird work” in to get ready for hunting season. Initially, Laney, the younger of the two, has been outstanding with solid points on planted pigeons at Hedgerow and also great steady points on woodcock and grouse in a nearby cover. Dinah is not far behind. One thing that I must say is that the understory, particularly briars and thorns in bird covers, is incredible! The time and blood loss getting to points is more than ever, so it is time to get out the L.L. Bean pants and jacket.
Next week you will find out how my shooting class at Orvis went as Bruce Bennett and I are going there to get some coaching.