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Spawning runs of migratory fish are once again possible along more than eight miles of New Jersey’s Batsto River upstream of the Batsto Dam now that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program, other federal, State, and non-governmental agencies, businesses, and private citizens have completed installing a fish ladder at historic Batsto Village in Wharton State Forest, Burlington County, New Jersey. At an awards ceremony held at the Village on October 18, 2005, NJFO Supervisor Clifford G. Day remarked that the fish ladder will also “benefit other fish and wildlife . . . by providing [a] . . . forage base for warm-water fish, raptors such as the osprey, and wading birds such as the great blue heron.”

Because Batsto Dam is the only significant blockage of the river, the Batsto fish ladder opens the entire waterway to passage by blueback herring, alewife, American eel and other migratory fish. Blueback herring and alewife are anadromous, living most of their life in saltwater but returning to freshwater for spawning. Conversely, American eels are catadromous, which means they live in freshwater but migrate to saltwater (the Atlantic Ocean’s Sargasso Sea) to spawn. All three of these species are presently found just downstream of Batsto Dam; the new fishway provides these migratory runs access to their historic upstream range. The miles of restored spawning and nursery habitat will help to support declining American eel, alewife, and blueback herring populations. This in turn will support other wildlife that feed on migratory fish.

At the awards celebration, Jose Fernandez, Director of New Jersey’s Division of Parks and Forestry, welcomed the guests then introduced Virginia Tippie, Director of Coastal America. Ms. Tippie presented each of the following speakers: Lt. Col. Robert J. Ruch District Engineer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District; NJFO Supervisor Clifford G. Day; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell; Serena McClain, Associate Director of American Rivers; and John Balletto of PSE&G, representing the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. John Paul Woodley, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works read a congratulatory letter from President George W. Bush then presented awards to all of the organizations that partnered in this restoration project.