That is what it looks like, that:
"Harvest of American shad is limited to the Connecticut River system" is being changed to:
"Sec.4.Amends Section 26-112-45. Species limitations.
Under subsection (b). American shad and hickory shad.
–
Limit harvest of American shad to CT River only

The word "system" is missing. So sad if true, the Farmington has my favorite shad haunts, need clarification from DEEP.

The way I read it , alewives/herring are open during the spring striper run .
I'm no rocket scientist , anyone else see what I see ?


"Sec. 4. Section 26-112-45 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies is amended to
read as follows:
26-112-45. Species limitations
(a) Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis).
(1) Alewives and blueback herring may be taken only by angling or scoop net, except that in
streams open to fishing throughout the year alewives and blueback herring may also be taken by
snagging or snatching.
(2) The taking of alewives and blueback herring by scoop net from June sixteenth through March
thirty-first, both dates inclusive, is prohibited.
(3) In rivers and streams, the taking of alewives and blueback herring by angling and snagging or
snatching from June sixteenth through 6:00 a.m. on the [third] second Saturday in April is
prohibited.
(4) The taking of alewives and blueback herring from the section of Brides Brook, East Lyme,
extending from the dam at Brides Pond downstream to Brides Brook Road is prohibited.
(5) Alewives and blueback herring shall not be taken from Saturday 12:00 midnight to Tuesday
12:00 midnight except in lakes and ponds, the main body of the Connecticut River, the main
body of the Housatonic River, and the main body of the Thames River including the Shetucket
River to the base of the Greenville Dam.
(6) The daily creel limit for alewives and blueback herring shall be twenty-five in the aggregate."

Med if you boycott the license, you can do whatever ya want.

Checking today on DEEP site as of March 6, 2015, http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2696&q=544692&deepNav_GID=1630 this document shows the change of opening day to the second Saturday in April and the continuing no open season on alewives. That would seem to indicate the moratorium remains in effect. Also last year while 370,506 shad went over the Holyoke Dam, only 647 blueback herring made it, indicating a continuing near collapse of the Connecticut River herring/alewife population. The Farmington River alewife population is showing signs of recovery in that I personally caught and released more alewives while shad fishing in the Farmington in 2014 than passed over the Holyoke Dam.

That is all that made it to the lift (647 herring). I seen many thousands of them last year while shad fishing and have noticed a steady increase over the past few years. The reason they aren't making it to the dam is, there is one deep hole a few hundred feet from the lift. In that hole are many large striped bass waiting for them! We would see schools go by (upstream) and a few minutes later they are going back downstream in fear of their life. This goes on all day long. What they need to do is go out and do a survey on the water and not use the lift numbers as a stock assessment. Just because 647 herring made it over the dam doesn't mean the river isn't loaded with herring, because it is!