Restoring Migratory Fish Passage and Populations

Problem

Goals and Objectives

Changes: A goal and some objectives were re-worded improve clarity and readability. Four new objectives were added to clarify actions needed to meet the stated goals, including a call to address the largest impaired system, the Weweantic River.

Goal 8.1. Ensure that the migration of fish species between salt and fresh water is unimpeded.
Goal 8.2. Restore degraded stream habitat and functions to ensure the diversity and abundance of fish species in Buzzards Bay streams.
Goal 8.3. Manage fishing impacts on anadromous fish populations to ensure fish harvest and bycatch are sustainable.
Objective 8.1. Ensure adequate funding of state fisheries restoration programs.
Objective 8.2. Ensure that local, state, and federal fisheries regulators improve the management of the catch and bycatch of river herring and other diadromous fish to promote their recovery and population sustainability.
Objective 8.3. Improve passageways and remove impediments and obstructions to fish migration.
Objective 8.4. Ensure adequate stream flow for fish migration.
Objective 8.5. Strengthen drinking water and agriculture withdrawal regulations to ensure adequate flow for the passage of adult migratory fish in the spring and juveniles in the fall, especially during drought conditions. (New)
Objective 8.6. Support monitoring and assessments of stressors affecting anadromous fish populations including stream flow, temperature, and mapping of obstructions and reproductive habitat. (New)
Objective 8.8. Promote measures for nutrient control in freshwater habitats to ensure adequate water quality for fish anadromous fish spawning and recruitment. (New)
Objective 8.9. Support efforts to restore historic fish passage to the Weweantic River above the Tremont Dam. (New)