Maine will receive more than $70 million in federal funds to improve fish migration in several rivers.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has chosen seven projects in Maine as the recipients of the latest round of federal infrastructure and inflation reduction funding.
The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point will receive $12 million to improve fish passage near the Woodland Dam on the St. Croix River. The dam is one of two remaining barriers for migratory fish in the lower river.
The Penobscot Nation will receive $5.4 million to improve stream and spawning habitat access for migratory fish in the Penobscot and St. George Rivers.
The Downeast Salmon Federation is among the seven Maine grant winners, and will receive about $9 million to remove an ice control dam on the Narraguagus River in Cherryfield.
The dam, which was designed to control flooding from ice jams, will be replaced with a nature-like fishway, said Charlie Foster, the federation's associate director.
"It will essentially look like a string of rapids in the river, and it will allow for the passage of all sea-run fish species, including endangered Atlantic salmon," he said. "But it will also keep that flood protection intact and also allow for the harvest of alewives in that location."
Other projects include the removal of the Littlefield Dam on the Little Androscoggin River, and a $13 million effort to improve fish passage in the Merrymeeting Bay, one of three sites in Maine designated for restoring endangered Atlantic salmon habitat.
NOAA officials said they received four times as many applications for the grant funding that was available. The seven Maine projects were among 46 that NOAA announced Wednesday.
