Removing Impediments to Migratory Fishes in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed_1997
- Published:
- October 1, 1997
- Originator:
- Chesapeake Bay Program
- EPA Number:
- EPA 903-R-97-029
The Fish Passage Workgroup of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Living Resources Subcommitee (LRSc) is charged with reopening blocked tributary waters of the Bay to provide access to spawning habitat for anadromous fish. This is accomplished through the construction of fish passage facilities, dam removal, recoconstruction of highway culverts, or by creating breaches or notches in dams. The Workgroup includes representatives from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admiistration's (NOAAs) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). An interagency agreement between US EPA and NOAA/NMFS facilitates the processing and distribution of federal funds to the jurisdictions for many of the fish passage, stocking, and survey project. The high degree of cooperation amongst these jurisdicitons and agencies has resulted in opening up many miles of stream habitat where migratory fish could potentially spawn.