Project Grant F24AP02491

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5, through the National Fish Passage Program (CFDA #15.685), awarded a $1,264,500 Project Grant to the Atlantic Salmon Federation Inc. to remove two obsolete dams and construct a nature-like fishway in Maine's Sandy River watershed. The grant funding will support the removal of the Mercer Dam on Little Norridgewock Stream and the Lemon Stream Dam, as well as the installation of an 18-inch fishway structure to fully restore fish passage. This will eliminate barriers to aquatic organism movement and help recover endangered Atlantic salmon and other migratory fish species in the Merrymeeting Bay Salmon Habitat Recovery Unit. Engineering, permitting, and project management costs are also covered under the grant, which runs through December 31, 2029.