With its 34 miles of river reconnected, the Pawcatuck hopes to restore its past fish migrations. Rhode Island’s Pawcatuck River is free-flowing for the first time in 250 years because of an eight-year-long effort to restore the river to its long-ago self. 

The Nature Conservancy headlined this project by effectively working with various agencies and passionate local citizens to remove or retrofit three major dams on the river, reconnecting 34 miles of free-flowing river for migrating fish species. The project should directly benefit American Shad, River Herring, sea-run trout, and many other migratory fish species, as their historic spawning routes are now restored. Scott Comings, the associate state director for the Nature Conservancy’s Rhode Island program, said this about the project: “This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime projects. How often do you have a chance to connect a river for the first time in 250 years? It is a new chapter in the history of the Pawcatuck, and the support for that has been amazing.”

For more information, check out: https://blog.nature.org/science/2018/03/13/after-250-years-of-dams-rhode-island-river-restored-for-migratory-fish/?src=social.nature.facebook.main

Will Poston is a member of the Flylords content team. Be sure to check him out on Instagram @will_poston!

Photo courtesy of Kyle Shaeffer, a guide, and photographer out of Maine. If you’re in the area be sure to book a trip with him via his Instagram @soulflyoutfitters or his website here!

https://theflylords.com/single-post/2017/12/01/coastal-convergence/

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