About the Connecticut River Coordinator's Office
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance program is made up of 64 field offices nationwide, including the Connecticut River Coordinator’s Office. The Connecticut River Coordinator’s Office is one of a dozen Management Assistance Offices in the Northeast. These offices are all involved in native and migratory fish and wildlife conservation which includes activities like coordination of diverse interests, fishery management planning, aquatic nuisance species management, assessment and monitoring of the status of the resource, public outreach and fish passage.
The Connecticut River Coordinator’s Office was established in 1967 to coordinate the cooperative, interagency, multi-state migratory fish restoration program in the Connecticut River basin. The program is guided by the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission according to a Congressional mandate.
This is the second attempt to restore Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River basin. The first attempt occurred in the 1860s – some 50 years after salmon were first lost from the river. The same entities were involved back then but they had a lot fewer resources at their disposal. Despite that fact, they too re-established a run. However, the program was later abandoned for a few different reasons: (1) the tributaries were all dammed blocking fish access to spawning and nursery habitat and they didn’t know how to make fishways work well, (2) the river was filthy with pollution, and (3) the harvest regulations were repealed in Connecticut.
Maybe because of this history, the resource management agencies agreed that there was a need for coordination when the second attempt to restore salmon was initiated (1967). The cooperators worked together first under a broad Statement of Intent which was later formalized into Public Law 98-138. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to fund the salary of someone who would coordinate the effort and the States agreed to help with the cost of program administration. This is how the program operates to this day.
The Coordinator’s Office addresses the mission of restoring migratory fish to the Connecticut River by providing effective coordination, information management, technical assistance and advocacy:
As Executive Assistant to the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission, the Coordinator serves as a liaison for the seven cooperating State and Federal resource management agencies, three major utility companies, dam owners, and a variety of other interested organizations and people. The role is designed to facilitate cooperative, basin-wide program administration, meetings and effective decision-making.
Scientific data and historic records are maintained and reported to cooperators and the public through reports, Web site and the Fish Returns Hotline.
Funding and expertise is provided to assist with habitat restoration and aquatic nuisance species management.
The efforts of the Coordinator’s Office have contributed to (1) the successful reintroduction of the once extirpated Atlantic salmon, (2) the restoration of American shad and herring to their historic range, (3) the restoration of habitat accessibility through fishway construction and dam removal, (4) the fishing success of basin anglers who use the Fish Returns Hotline, and (5) the education of countless young stewards throughout the watershed.
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