The spring lift season began during the week of March 15 at Winooski One fish lift on Vermont's Winooski River. The report was made by staff at Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Resources Office.

Two steelhead rainbow trout have already been lifted, a possible early sign of a good annual run. Numbers of returning steelhead have been low in the past several years, with only four steelhead and two landlocked Atlantic salmon being lifted in the spring of 2003. The low number of fish returning to the passage was attributed to the resurgence of the parasitic sea lamprey in Lake Champlain after an experimental control program ended in 1997. With long-term sea lamprey control moving forward, returning fish numbers are expected to increase on the river.

The Winooski One fish lift has allowed fisheries managers to restore wild migratory salmonid populations and fisheries that have been restricted by barriers built in the lower river. The lift has enabled migrating landlocked Atlantic salmon access to more than 20 miles of critical spawning and nursery habitat above the hydroelectric station's dam.

NORTHEAST REGION, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE -- Conserving the Nature of the Northeast