The Sunderland Fishery Resources Office, in cooperation with member agencies of the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission, and with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, is releasing juvenile Atlantic salmon into the tributaries of the Connecticut River in an attempt to restore this once extirpated species. In total, the commission expects to release over 7 million Atlantic salmon fry between now and June. These young fish, barely the length of a human eyebrow, will take up residence in the clear, cool headwater streams where they will grow for another two years. Then, the surviving salmon will migrate to the ocean, having survived predation and a host of other survival challenges. They will feed and grow in the rich waters of the north Atlantic and return as four-year old adults that are biologically keyed specifically to the tributary where they grew up.

For this project, the Sunderland Fishery Resources Office provided technical assistance to the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts under the guidance of the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission.

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