86 



There have been frequent and well-meaning attempts during 

 the past fifty years to establish a run of alewives in this 

 stream, but without any notable success. Mature fish from 

 Weymouth were placed in Lily Pond, but obstructions were 

 not removed in spite of the manifest impossibility of maintain- 

 ing a fishery if the fish were not permitted to run up stream. 

 Had the town attended to the matter of fishways at the vari- 

 ous dams, a good fishery might undoubtedly have been estab- 

 lished. As it stands, no privilege to catch the alewives has 

 ever been sold, and the town has never received revenue from 

 this source. The fact that Lily Pond is used as a water supply 

 makes difficult the reclamation of the fishery, since the level 

 of the water may be so lowered in the summer as to prevent 

 the passage of the young alewives out of the pond. However, 

 the artificial ponds on the stream may be used for spawning 

 grounds. 



The successful re-establishment of this fishery requires a free 

 and unobstructed passage for the alewives to spawning grounds. 

 Satisfactory fishways should be installed by the town at the 

 Lincoln's Mill Dam, and other dams, unless the owners agree 

 to lower the stream to its natural bed during the spring run. 

 The use of Lily Pond as a water supply renders problematical 

 its value as a spawning ground, and the limited area of the 

 artificial ponds on the stream will not support an extensive 

 fishery. 



NORTH RIVER. 



North River, formed by the junction of Indian Head River 

 and Barker's River, flows northeasterly through the towns of 

 Marshfield, Pembroke, Hanover and Scituate, receiving as 

 tributaries First, Second and Third Herring brooks, and Smelt 

 Brook. The stream, used chiefly for power, is polluted by tack 

 and rubber factories on its tributaries. The present outlet to 

 Massachusetts Bay was formed during the gale of 1898, 3 miles 

 to the north of the old opening. 



First Herring Brook. This tributary stream forms in its 

 course two ponds, the lower of which serves as the water supply 

 for Scituate. Although established in 1818, and subject to 

 lease by the town of Scituate, there has never been an organized 



