Scott Gravatt, executive director of the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, demonstrates the slower flow of the water through the fishway by sending 75 yellow rubber ducks down (opposite the way fish would travel) the chutes. Guests were also shown a video system that will allow scientists and the public to view fish swimming by an observation window.  Rubber ducks, launched by Scott Gravatt, executive director of the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, flow down the chutes of the new Hallville Fishway as officials from the district and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and other agencies hold a dedication for the new fishway on Thursday in Preston. The fishway will allow alewife and other fish to travel upstream in the Poquetanuck Brook to Hallville Pond and other habitats to spawn. The nearly $500,000 project was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state DEEP and grants from the Fishers Island Ferry Association and other groups. After a program where all parties were thanked, Gravatt offered the rubber duck demonstration. Guests were also shown the video system that will allow scientists and the public to view fish swimming by an observation window in the fishway.
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