through the broad vistas provided by the commercial bogs. Cranberry cultivation increased to 15,000 barrels by 1895. David Belding, Commonwealth Biologist, reported in his 1912 "Report Upon the Alewife Fisheries of Massachusetts": Below Coonamessett Pond is a timbered channel in width. At the upper fish house is a dam below which the stream passes through of cranberry bogs, where it is crossed by nine embankments before it finally passes into a series of five ponds. In 1906, alewives were plentiful in Coonamessett River, and a ditch was dug to allow the fish to reach Coonamessett Pond. The fishery,…is of considerable importance, as the stream is naturally adapted for alewives and Coonamessett Pond provides an excellent spawning ground. The inevitable conflict with the cranberry industry cannot be remedied except by requiring the bog owners to maintain competent passageways for the fish. Cranberries and herrings In 1971, the town of Falmouth purchased more than of upland, cranberry bog, and Coonamesset River for the dual purposes of conservation and growing cranberries as published in the Town Meeting Warrant. Cranberry agriculture has played a major role in the Town of Falmouth's history and, as noted in the newspapers and correspondence from the Conservation Commission to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection shortly thereafter, the major goal was to preserve cranberry cultivation as farming was rapidly disappearing in Falmouth. Since this time, cranberry cultivation has continued unchanged while environmental awareness has increased, bringing the conservation goal to the fore. While the Coonamessett maintained a healthy herring run for many years alongside Cranberry cultivation, in recent years the herring run has undergone a massive decline, following a similar decrease across New England which has been widely attributed to at-sea factors external to the rivers. In 2004, fish counters saw only 640 fish and the only about 2000 herring returned to spawn. Concern over the herring run and the disappearance of sea run trout has led to a consensus in the Town for better protection and improvement of the river for fisheries including herring. Critical problems include overfishing and Dutchman's Ditch at the head of the river. The latter provides the only access to Coonamessett Pond where the herring spawn. The ditch was dug between the stream and the river and lies above the water table during the summer, and is frequently dry when the main herring occurs throughout New England. The river temperature was also raised