The Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission received a $250,000 allocation through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004 to monitor fishways, restore American shad and blueback herring, restore habitat, develop an American eel management plan, control aquatic nuisance species, assess instream salmon growth and survival, conduct Internet outreach and continue the production and release of Atlantic salmon. This is the first direct congressional funding that the commission has ever received. The funding is critical to sustaining the Connecticut River migratory fish restoration program at a time when state revenues are down and federal budgets are declining.

The commission, established in 1983 by Public Law 98-138, was reauthorized by Congress in 2002 to continue its mission to restore migratory fish and habitat to the Connecticut River.

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