Supporting Alewife Restoration in the St. Croix Watershed Anadromous Fish Assessments in 2023

Fish counting at Milltown Dam has been in place since 1981 and is a method of establishing an approximate count of the anadromous fish entering the St. Croix River at the lowermost dam located in St. Stephen, NB. With the increasing numbers of fish in the last several years and potential for large scale restoration in the next few years, it is essential that the fish studies continue on the river in cooperation with all partners 

This project continued the fish counting for the year 2023 and included installing, maintaining, and monitoring antenna systems, using PIT tag reader equipment, and using radio telemetry to track fish passages in the next three dams in the St. Croix River upstream of Milltown with the goal of characterizing migratory path choice and success rates. 

This project provided actionable information for potential restoration planning and for the engineering and design of new potential fish passage sites that could result in roughly tens of millions of anadromous fish returning annually.