Maine removes 60-year-old river barrier to reopen migration route for rare Atlantic salmon

Atlantic Salmon leaping waterfalls (Photo credit: Canva) Maine has removed a 60-year-old river barrier on the Narraguagus River where only about 25 wild adult Atlantic salmon return each year, replacing it with a nature-like fishway designed to reopen migration routes for endangered fish. The old ice-control dam in Cherryfield, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1961, long blocked salmon, shad and river herring from reaching upstream spawning grounds. With construction underway since June and completion expected by November, the new stepped channel aims to restore connectivity while still protecting the town from ice jams and flooding, according to reporting by The Maine Monitor.A river built for salmon, but short on fishThe Narraguagus runs about 40 miles from its source in the downeast lakes to its head-of-tide in Cherryfield. Along much of its length, the river and its tributaries are wild and largely undeveloped, with shaded stretches and rocky bottoms that biologists describe as prime Atlantic salmon habitat. Yet for decades, the salmon have been missing. In recent years, only around 25 wild adult salmon have returned to the Narraguagus annually to spawn, a tiny fracti...