August 27, 2024 –NOAA Fisheries has recommended USD 45 million (EUR 40 million) in funding for 27 projects dedicated to climate resilience and habitat restoration, including salmon recovery and other fisheries-related initiatives.
Nearly half of the spending will go to federally recognized tribes, while the remaining money will go to underserved communities.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
April 4, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Gulf of Maine’s endangered salmon will need restored habitats, removal of dams, aggressive hatchery programs and other conservations actions if its population is to rebound, according to a federal government plan to save the fading and iconic fish.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine salmon, listed as endangered in 2000, that is intended as a roadmap to sustainability for a fish whose populations have plummeted since the 1800s.
Recovery will take time and patience — the plan estimates 75 years and $350 million, which would have to come from some combination of federal, state and private money. The wildlife service estimates 100,000 adult salmon returned to the Penobscot River each year in the 19th century, and less than 750 of the fish returned to spawn in Maine rivers last year.
Maine’s salmon face numerous threats, and one of the biggest is the continued presence of dams that prevent them from spawning, said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said there are 400 dams in the state in areas that affect salmon.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times
October 5, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Because of potential relevance to Atlantic highly migratory species fisheries and constituents, we want to make you aware of the announcement below from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees.
The Trustees have proposed a comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem restoration plan for the Gulf of Mexico. The draft plan is based on our thorough assessment of impacts to the Gulf’s natural resources-and the services they provide-following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The draft plan would allocate up to $8.8 billion allocated for natural resource injuries under a proposed settlement with BP. We have proposed to accept this settlement, which would resolve BP’s liability for natural resource injuries stemming from the spill.
The draft plan would allocate funds to meet five restoration goals, and 13 restoration types designed to meet these goals. The restoration types address a broad range of impacts at both regional and local scales. Together, these efforts will restore wildlife and habitat and increase recreational opportunities in the Gulf.
The five goals of the draft plan are to: 1) restore and conserve habitat; 2) restore water quality; 3) replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources; 4) provide and enhance recreational opportunities; and 5) provide for monitoring, adaptive management, and administrative oversight to support restoration implementation.
The 13 proposed restoration types are:
1. Wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats
2. Habitat projects on federally managed lands
3. Nutrient reduction
4. Water quality
5. Fish and water column invertebrates
6. Sturgeon
7. Submerged aquatic vegetation
8. Oysters
9. Sea turtles
10. Marine mammals
11. Birds
12. Mesophotic and benthic (lowlight and ocean floor) communities
13. Provide and enhance recreational opportunities
In proposing this plan to address the ecosystem-level injuries caused by this spill, we considered both the potential environmental benefits and impacts. The plan does not identify specific projects for each restoration type, but lays out a framework for developing future project-specific restoration plans. The public will have the opportunity to comment on these subsequent restoration plans.
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is available for public review and comment through December 4, 2015. We will hold eight public meetings where you will be able to provide comments on the draft plan and the proposed settlement with BP.