Our Services

The National Fish Passage Program improves community infrastructure resilience, rebuilds fish populations, improves recreational and commercial fisheries, and restores the beauty of free-flowing waters. We provide financial and technical assistance to support projects that improve fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

Learn more about fish passage

Project proposals may be initiated by any individual, organization, government, or agency, in cooperation with their local Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. Contact a Fish Passage Coordinator in your area or contact your local Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, to discuss the project and learn more about the technical assistance that is available. 

Technical and Planning Assistance 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and engineers are available to provide assistance in the planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of select fish passage projects.  

Fish Passage Engineering 

Experienced civil and hydraulic engineers working in the fields of fish passage and protection can provide technical assistance in the planning, design, and evaluation of projects to improve conservation outcomes. 

Financial Assistance 

The National Fish Passage Program provides funding to support fish passage projects You must work with a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office Biologist to be considered for funding.  To begin this process, please contact your Regional Fish Passage Coordinator or your local Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. 

Get Started

Fish passage project proposals can be initiated by any individual, organization, government, or agency. However proposals must be submitted and completed in cooperation with a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. (Please note that fish passage projects being used for Federal or State compensatory mitigation or required by existing Federal or State regulatory programs are not eligible for funding through the National Fish Passage Program. )

Our Projects and Research

The National Fish Passage Program works with local communities on a voluntary basis to remove barriers and restore rivers for the benefit both fish and people. Fish passage projects address issues related to climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change
and serve disadvantaged communities while spanning the nation geographically and addressing a wide array of diverse aquatic resource issues. 

Explore our past successes and future projects featuring investments in Tribal lands, climate resiliency, imperiled species.

Full Library of Bipartisan Infrastructure Projects

People standing around a table filled with gravel, miniature trees, and miniature sheds

Across the landscape, undersized, aging and improperly placed road-stream crossings create barriers in our rivers, streams, and tidal wetlands. These structures fragment aquatic habitat and prevent or greatly reduce the ability of aquatic species to move freely to migrate, feed, and reproduce....

large jackhammer removes concrete dam

The project will remove two dams, the Upper Town Dam and the Remnant Mill Dam from the Sabattus River, a tributary to the Androscoggin River in Maine. Both dams will be removed, with bank restoration, stabilization, and revegetation.  These dam removals will eliminate public safety...

downstream view of toewood (large logs) being added into a stream bed by large construction trucks

The Upper Bear River straddles the border between Wyoming and Utah and has been a long-term refuge for native Bear River Cutthroat, which are unique to the watershed. However, the area is also one of the oldest agricultural districts in Wyoming and Utah and impacts from water usage over the last...

Close up of American eel under water

The Potomac Headwaters Fish Passage Restoration Project is a watershed scale project to reconnect over 195 miles of habitat for brook trout, American eel, and other aquatic species in the Potomac Headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay across the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West...