FACT SHEET SERIES #2 LONG ISLAND SOUND STUDY River Miles A federal, state, and local partnership to restore and protect the Sound Restoring Migratory Fish Passage Save the Sound's Gwen Macdonald explains how redesigning a culvert underneath I-95 in Stamford, CT has allowed fish to swim up the Noroton River for the first time since the highway was built 60 years ago. REMOVING BARRIERS TO BRING BACK MIGRATORY FISH Program Achievements: THE LONG ISLAND SOUND STUDY (LISS), through its partners, is Since colonial times, fish passing u Since 2014, reconnected 105 through the Sound have been stream miles, 55% toward a working on restoring blocked from their upstream 2035 goal to restore 200 miles habitats that: help habitats due to barriers such for fish to swim upstream. provide food and shelter for wildlife; protect our as dams and culverts. LISS u Since 1998, reconnected 417 helps to restore fish passage by stream miles for fish passage. shorelines as a buffer to stormy seas and sea level supporting state and local efforts u LISS provides technical support to remove dams, build fishways, and grant assistance for fishway rise; and ensure clean and reconstruct impassable or and dam removal projects. waters in our bays and harbors and Long Island undersized culverts. Once the u Citizen scientists work with LISS barriers are removed, migratory staff to monitor the populations Sound by filtering pollution. fish such as river herring and of river herring in New York Learn more at: American eel can return to their rivers. Data is used to plan for LISStudy.net historic river habitats. future fish passage projects. SPOTLIGHT: JEREMY RIVER PAPER MILL DAM REMOVAL A privately-owned dam that once powered a paper mill was removed from the Jeremy River in Connecticut – and for the first time in over 300 years, migratory species of fish including Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, and eastern brook trout are able to reach their historic spawning areas. The 1.5-acre former mill property, including the dam, was A dam no longer in use and former paper mill were removed. The restored sold to the Town of Colchester by stream bed has now opened up 17 miles of fish migratory habitat. a local family for a dollar. Since the building was already partially collapsed, the Town was awarded Department of Energy and areas, sometimes many miles $860,000 in state grants to Environmental Protection. It upstream. It is estimated that demolish the structure, clean up received financial support from there are between 4,000 and the site, and convert the area to a the US Fish and Wildlife Service 5,000 dams in Connecticut alone, riverfront park. The dam removal, and National Fish and Wildlife and the upper end of this range which took place in 2016, was led Foundation's Long Island Sound would translate to about one dam by The Nature Conservancy, in Futures Fund, a grant program per square mile. consultation with the Connecticut that receives technical and financial support from LISS. Now that the dam has been demolished, 17 stream miles in 2018 RESTORATION the Jeremy River, Meadow Brook, HIGHLIGHTS and other tributaries have been reconnected to the Salmon and u Blackledge River Dam Connecticut Rivers – opening up Removal, Glastonbury, CT nearly the entire watershed to the u Noroton River Fishway, Discover projects near you Sound. But there are still many Stamford & Darien, CT on the database. Search: more dams in existence that u Hemingway Pond Dam LISShabitatrestoration.com prevent the passage of fish from Removal, Watertown, CT reaching their historic spawning CONNECT WITH US Printed: May 22, 2019 Habitat Coordinators: [email protected], [email protected] @LISStudy @Longislandsoundstudy.net @Lisoundstudy LISStudy.net/factsheets.