On Thursday, February 26, the Conservation Commission will review plans to relocate native fish from Bullough’s Pond to City Hall Ponds to “correct the negative impact” of an earlier project that had pumped water and fish in the other direction.
In 2024, the City of Newton initiated a De-Watering for Sediment Removal Project that resulted in fish in the City Hall Ponds being pumped into Bullough’s Pond. A press release from the City at the time said that the project would “reestablish the ponds’ capacity and maintain the aesthetic and passive recreational values of the ponds.”
“There I was, in 2024, minding my own business,” said a pumpkinseed sunfish, “when suddenly I was ripped from my home near City Hall and unceremoniously dumped into Bullough’s Pond! Now, two years later, they want to put me back into the City Hall ponds for something called biodiversity! That is not what I voted for! I don’t want to live with other fish! Have you ever seen an eel? They’re terrifying!”
“It was traumatizing for my offspring,” said an aggrieved perch, “I took them out of their schools of fish and put them into new schools, and now they have to go through that re-adjustment again?”
According to the Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) submitted by the Native Fish Coalition to the Massachusetts Department of Environment Protection, this new fish relocation project is necessary because “fish biodiversity and biomass dropped notably due to the de-watering project leaving the ponds unbalanced and unhealthy from an ecological perspective. Recent fish surveys found only pumpkinseed sunfish and in very low abundance. Without human intervention, by the time the fish population is rebuilt, it would likely be just a few years away from the next dredging. In addition to bolstering the fish population, this effort will also help control the mosquito population — the mosquitoes are unchecked at this time due to a lack of predators.”
“Our pond has only pumpkinseed sunfish and we like it that way!” said a spokesman for the Pumpkinseed Sunfish Action Committee for More Pumpkinseed Sunfish and Less Other Fish (PSACMPSLOF).
The RDA continues: “Only species confirmed to be upstream of Bullough’s Pond will be moved to City Hall. The list of approved fish to move includes pumpkinseed sunfish, golden shiner, yellow perch, white sucker, brown bullhead, tessellated darter, swamp darter, banded sunfish, creek chubsucker, blackness dace, longnose dace, redfin pickerel, and American eel.”
“That’s what we need — more eels in our ponds!” said no one.
The fish will be relocated with traps, nets, and aerated coolers in the spring of 2026.
Ed. Note: Hypothetical quotes could not be verified by press time.
