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Bronx River Diary Expedition 4
Climbing Ladders without Feet
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Bronx River
©WCS/M.Krauss
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Diary of an Alewife, Bronx River, mid-1600s
Ahhh, at last I have reached the sweet shores of the River Bronx! My native land (nay, water) beckoneth me to return home. Every year I maketh this journey, as my forbears have done, and as my forbears’ forbears did before them, and so on back to the misty depths of murkiest memory. But what is this? A wall hath arisen right before mine eyes. Verily I am hindered. For shame!
August 10
OK, I admit I wrote the diary. However, this is what the alewives must have thought when they discovered their passage blocked by the first dam constructed on the Bronx River. Though only about ten feet high, the dam created a barrier that our poor alewives could not surmount. The fish had no choice but to return to Long Island Sound to search for new habitat. The dam, therefore, eliminated the Bronx River alewife population. Alewives have not lived in the Bronx River since that time—that is, until this past March when 201 alewife pioneers were re-introduced.
Those of you familiar with this area, however, might know that three dams can now be found on the lower Bronx River: the Snuff Mill dam in the New York Botanical Garden, a set of twin dams in the Bronx Zoo, and a third in Bronx River Park at 182nd Street. Industrialists built the dams in the nineteenth century and used them to provide power to local mills. Now you might wonder why we would bother with a re-introduction if the fish still can’t swim over the dams. Flying fish might make more sense. But alewives? That certainly doesn’t seem very nice.
However, there is no need to fear. We plan to build structures known as fish passageways (or fish ladders) to facilitate upstream migration. A fish passageway provides a gentle slope from an area downstream of a dam to its top. Instead of running into a sheer vertical wall, returning alewives will discover an entry to a passage that will gradually lead them up and over to the other side. They will reach upstream habitat in this manner.
Since all three dams are important pieces of Bronx history, every effort will be made to minimize potential changes to the structures and to the scenic views they create. Challenges abound when restoring a natural system in an urban setting. This project provides a way for both people and nature to thrive in the heart of the city. Therefore, we plan to install the passageways before our juvenile alewives grow up and return from the ocean to spawn upstream in three to five years. And in case you were wondering, the alewives will have no problem going over the dams as they head downstream. It’s going back up that’s the problem!
Lastly, the fish and I thank thee, gentle reader, for your interest in the Bronx River. The tale continueth next week with another alewife update.
Fun Fish Fact of the Week:
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Alewives and Ale: The word “alewife” does not only refer to a fish. In Medieval England, an alewife was a woman who ran a tavern. (In this instance, “wife” refers to the woman. “Ale” refers to…well…ale.) It is also spelled “alewyfe.”
—Marla
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