The Lowell Dam, nine miles above the Essex Company Dam at Lawrence, 

 has proved to be an impassable barrier. Although shad have been ob- 

 served in the pools->below the dam at Lowell none have been observed in 

 the Lowell Fishway _/cr above the dam. 



Regarding the passage of shad through the fishway at Lawrence, the 

 Annual Report of the Division of Marine Fisheries, Mass. Conservation 

 Dept., June 30, 19hh, states t 



"As partial answer to the oft-made inquiry whether shad 

 will ascend a fishway, our Biologist reports that early 

 in July, 19h3 the flow of water was shut off in the fish- 

 way at Lawrence (Merrimack River) and after the water had 

 quieted, shad were observed in the ladder pools from the 

 bottom up to the 37th. pocket. From there on there is a 

 short straight run into the pond above the dam. One of 

 these shad measuring 15 inches was brought into the Divi- 

 sion Office for display. These fish had the character- 

 istics of the Connecticut River Shad and might have been 

 from the planting of fry from Connecticut in 1935." 



At the same time that the shad use the Lawrence fishway there is 

 a large run of alewives and the shad have frequently been observed to 

 follow the alewives, which are more aggressive, into the fishway. 

 Shad, however, do not enter the Lawrence fishway under all water con- 

 ditions. The probable minimum water level at which shad enter the 

 fishway W is at a tailwater elevation of 11 ft. (above mean sea 

 level) . At this level the first weir is completely submerged and the 

 water flows through the entrance at a velocity of about 2.6 ft/sec. 



tl The Lowell fishway was also designed in 1918 by the same engineer 

 who designed the fishway at Lawrence. It is, however, an entirely 

 different type of fishway. 



_/ The notes on the behavior of shad in the Lawrence fishway, the 

 tailwater conditions at the time of entry, the numbers of fish, etc. 

 are based on the observations of Mr. Ernest W. Barnes, former 

 Biologist for Mass. Conservation Dept., Mr. John Burns, Supervisor 

 of Fishways for the Mass. Conservation Dept. and Mr. Harold Dobransk, 

 Gate Operator for the Essex Company in Lawrence, Mass. who is in 

 charge of the operation of the fishway. 



