NOAA Awards $103 Million for Fish Passage, Marsh and Reef Restoration

NOAA Fisheries has awarded $103 million for 16 habitat restoration projects across the country. The September 10 announcement covers work ranging from river passage for salmon to coastal marsh for redfish, shrimp and oysters. These are funding awards for restoration, not a report that all of the habitat work is finished.

On the West Coast, California Trout will receive $5.4 million to reconnect floodplain habitat for Klamath River coho. The Freshwater Trust is receiving $6.1 million for salmon and steelhead habitat in Oregon's Sandy River Basin, while the Wild Salmon Center is receiving $5.9 million for coho habitat across four Oregon Coast watersheds. In Alaska, awards include $5.1 million to the Knik Tribe for Chinook fish passage and $7.9 million to Trout Unlimited for passage work in the Chena River watershed.

Coastal nursery habitat is another substantial part of the package. Ducks Unlimited will receive $9.9 million to restore marsh in the Galveston Bay watershed for redfish, shrimp and oysters. The University of Georgia will receive $8 million for salt marsh nursery habitat supporting those same fisheries. In Puerto Rico, $6.9 million will support coral propagation and outplanting through the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research.

The Great Lakes work includes $7.7 million to Trout Unlimited to reconnect aquatic habitat in shared priority waters of Lakes Michigan and Superior. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians will receive $1.1 million for habitat supporting lake sturgeon and Arctic grayling.

The value to anglers is the habitat underneath the fishery: routes to spawning grounds, places for young fish to grow and feeding areas that keep populations productive. The awards do not change fishing seasons or harvest limits. Their long-term payoff will depend on completed restoration and how fish respond, not simply on the size of the checks.