Projects
Restoring Rivers and Streams
We protect and restore important habitat for all 12 species of native diadromous (searun) fish in Maine. Restoring rivers and increasing populations of native searun fish is important for more than fish.
Re-establishing searun fish boosts the biological productivity of the entire river corridor, as well as our estuaries and oceans -- for everything from aquatic insects, mussels, waterbirds and furbearing mammals to commercially and recreationally important fish, seabirds and marine mammals.
In order to protect and restore habitat for diadromous fish, our office provides funding and technical expertise, and we collaborate with dozens of conservation partners, including other USFWS offices, other federal and state agencies, NGOs, private landowners and corporate interests. Over the last decade, our office has been actively involved in partnerships to complete more than 135 on-the-ground projects that benefit diadromous fish, leading to:
- permanent protection (fee and easement acquisition) of 86,191 acres and 424 miles of riparian habitat of high value to Atlantic salmon and other species, and
- restoration of more than 10,000 acres and 1,363 river-miles of high value to many species of diadromous fish.
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has accessed $11.5 million in USFWS and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funds, matched 2:1 with non-federal funds for habitat protection, applied research and restoration projects directly linked to diadromous fish initiatives. Restoration techniques include a wide array of strategies, including: 
- removing tidal restrictions and dams,
- repairing and renovating old fishways,
- installing new and effective fishways,
- controlling erosion from nearby uplands,
- installing appropriately sized and located culverts and bridges,
- providing temporary "loaner bridges" to timber operators, and
- providing support to aquaculture, blueberry and timber managers to develop and implement Best Management Practices.
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Our staff:
- provides biological and technical expertise in GIS, fluvial geomorphology and riverine functions, diadromous fisheries ecology,
- plays multiple roles in coordinating, implementing and monitoring high priority diadromous fish restoration projects, and
- supports applied research projects that promise to increase our knowledge and enhance the success of future restoration initiatives.
Funding provided through our office often supports key restoration activities not often funded by other partners (i.e. preliminary feasibility studies, planning and design work, outreach, applied research and monitoring).
For more information:
- View slide show highlighting four river restoration activities on behalf of diadromous fish.
- View slide show highlighting five Atlantic salmon habitat protection and restoration activities.
- Download our office's summary report on Diadromous Fish Habitat Protection and Restoration Projects in Maine.
- Learn about funding available and projects completed through the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund.
- Download fact sheet on Maine's Wild Atlantic Salmon (112K PDF).
- Download fact sheet called All About Maine Alewives.
- View a map (1,087K PDF) identifying diadromous fish protection and restoration project sites in Maine.
- Contact: Jed Wright, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 12; jed_wright@fws.gov) for more information on Atlantic salmon habitat restoration and protection projects.
- Contact: Sandra Lary, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 19; sandra_lary@fws.gov) for more information on diadromous fish restoration projects.
