Fish projects hope to return more salmon.

• Author: Pilkington, Steve
• Position: Inside Alaska Business

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fisheries Program and its partners in 19 states will spend a combined $7.4 million this year to remove or bypass more than 150 barriers to fish passage.

Here in Alaska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has invested $421,112, backed by an additional $185,615 in matching funds from its various partners, to remove a total of 17 barriers to fish passage. When completed, these projects will reopen more than 73 miles of waterway to salmon and other fish species. "The National Fish Passage Program is a natural for Alaska," said Rowan Gould, Alaska regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have plenty of willing partners because this is a program where everyone...