Branford Land Trust Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Branford Fish Ladder

BRANFORD, CT—Join the Branford Land Trust to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Branford’s Fish Ladder with kids' activities, fish fashion, a parade, and more on April 25.

Like schooling fish, the community comes together in a family-friendly, vibrant festivity at the Supply Pond Fish Ladder from 10 a.m. to noon.

Come wearing your best fish fashion, such as a cap, t-shirt, and fins. Use your imagination, as there will be a prize for the best fish costume.

The celebration begins with welcome remarks and free kids' activities, including hands-on activities led by the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center of Mystic, a 'make your own' fish flag to carry in the parade around the pond and take home, fish-inspired face painting and temporary tattoos, fish-frenzy snacks, and maybe, if the eels are running, a look into a live eel tank. The event also features live acoustic music by Patrick Gazda and Tomcat Bob.

After those activities, enjoy fish ladder viewing and a parade around the supply ponds.

"Experience a real-life fish run," BLT noted in a news release. "Walk out onto the ladder to watch the river herring (also called alewives) on their migration from Long Island Sound to their breeding waters in Linsley Pond. We hope they’ll be running."

Attendees will hear from experts about the amazing annual event of fish migration with BLT naturalist Tom Cleveland. With Cleveland.

Learn about the Branford fish ladder and the return of the fish to our waters with fish biologist Steve Gephart.

Explore the history of the Supply Ponds—farming, ice houses and drinking water reservoir—from town historian emeritus Jane Bouley.

Look through binoculars with BLT naturalist Chris Woerner to watch the birds hunting the fish.

Talk with Jake Dittes from Save the Sound about human-caused challenges to fish migration and projects that are restoring fish passage around Long Island Sound.

Feel inspired by poetry written and read by local author and Professor Steve Mentz.

Hear from Courtney Cucinotta, an Indigenous person with Nipmuc heritage, about Native American relationships to water and to fish.

The parade features a one-mile walk around the pond guided by Richard Shanahan and volunteers from the BLT and the Branford Open Space Commission.

The event is sponsored by the Branford Community Foundation/Ascend Bank.

The event is free and open to the public with a rain date of Sunday, April 26. Any changes will be posted on the Land Trust Facebook page.

BLT shares Branford Supply Pond Fish Ladder history

The Branford Supply Pond Fish Ladder was built to support the recovery of alewife and blueback herring—collectively known as river herring—whose annual spring migrations are a defining ecological event in southern Connecticut. Although they are fish, they are historically and ecologically “part of the soil” of Connecticut because they were used for centuries as a primary fertilizer for crops. They are also vital forage fish, feeding striped bass, bluefish, ospreys, herons, eagles, whales, sharks and seals. Just as importantly, by running up our creeks and rivers in the spring, they transport ocean nutrients into freshwater systems, enriching ponds and streams and strengthening food webs from plankton to top predators.

The fresh-water habitat of the Supply Ponds and the Queach Brook is a perfect place for river herring to lay their eggs and for the baby fish to grow up until they head back to the salt water of Long Island Sound. In 2025, the fish ladder counted more alewives and blueback herring than it had in the past 20 years, more than 23,000.

The project of building a fish ladder over the Supply Ponds dam began in 2002. It took about four years to raise the money, design, and build the fish ladder with a coalition of state and federal government agencies as well as private nonprofits—over 10,000 organizations gave time, money, and expertise to get it done.

For more information on the importance of the Fish Ladder, watch Reconnected: Restoring the Rivers of Long Island Sound, on YouTube.

About the Branford Land Trust

The Branford Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, accredited by the Land Trust Alliance, established in 1967 to protect Branford’s open space and natural resources. Run by volunteers and supported by member families and businesses, the Land Trust maintains more than 30 miles of hiking trails and manages and protects over 1,000 acres in more than 130 parcels and holds conservation easements on another 400 acres in Branford. For more information and to become a member, visit its website here.