For the first time in 200 years or since the Revolutionary War, wild Atlantic salmons are spawning in New England's Connecticut River again.
The trio of nests containing the species' eggs in the river system was nothing short of miraculous for biologists, as wild salmon have long been thought to be extinct from the watershed.
Connecticut Fish and Wildlife dubbed the redds — or nests in the streambed for trout or salmon to lay their eggs — "an incredible discovery" made last November by Inland Fisheries researchers.
"This marks the first documented wild spawning of Atlantic salmon in Connecticut since 1991 (in the Salmon River) and before that around the time of the Revolutionary War," the office reports in a Facebook post.
It was reported that salmon eggs were found on the Salmon River, which flows into the Connecticut River, in 1991. The conditions, however, gave the eggs "almost no chance" at survival, as the Hartford Courant pointed out.
Wild Atlantic salmon once swam plentifully in the river that runs 407 miles, with researchers even estimating that up to 50,000 fishes made the yearly runs upstream prior to colonization. The species, however, died off quickly after dams blocked the migration paths and when the river suffered increasing pollution.
Connecticut undertook restoration efforts, including a federal or multi-state program from 1967 to 2013. The state has since moved to a "legacy" plan where it stocked relatively few dry in select sections of Salmon and Farmington Rivers, continually aiming to keep the native species part of the natural habitat.
The restocking program ended likely due to factors such as skyrocketing costs from the low rate of spawning salmon and the 2011 hurricane damage. For Bill Hyatt, DEEP's natural resources bureau chief, salmon and other fish populations also faced massive declines in the 1990s with dwindling food supply, and shifting ocean currents in 2000s worsened the blow.
In the winter, experts found five adult Atlantic salmons on the Lower Farmington River — swimming upstream of the Rainbow Dam — and the three nests. The eggs are expected to hatch in the spring, becoming the first in the species to spawn in the area in over two centuries.
Unlike the nest back in 1991, these current nests are considered to have a good chance of hatching.
The location remains confidential to protect the fishes and their eggs.
