Fish in the Assabet

Click on the common name of each fish for species-specific information about habitat requirements, life history, and current distribution within the Assabet watershed. (Species present as of 2001.)

Extirpated Clupiedae species:
Two species of the herring family, alewife and American shad, once lived in the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers and tributary streams, but disappeared because of dams that blocked their migration between salt and fresh water. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, with Mass Riverways, Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust,and other volunteer groups, worked on an anadromous fish restoration program on the Merrimack and Concord Rivers. In the spring of 2004 appx. 4,500 alewife and 400 American shad were transferred into the Sudbury and Concord Rivers. Providing fish passage for these fish may allow them to make a come-back on the Assabet River as well.