USFWS Challenge Grant Awarded to DSF

In the first major shift in stocking strategies for endangered Atlantic Salmon in the U.S. in 20 years, state and federal agencies are now recommending broad adoption of parr stocking based upon the results of the DSF Peter Gray Parr Project (PGPP). The PGPP has now stepped from a 10-year proof of concept experiment to expansion and scaling of the program into other rivers.

Data from the project has led to the Downeast Salmon Habitat Recovery Unit (SHRU) Committee calling for widespread adoption of the use of parr in the Downeast SHRU.

In 2021, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service awarded DSF a $751,000, 5-year 1:1 matching Recovery Challenge Grant which, along with private donations, has significantly helped our recovery efforts.

Scaling the Peter Gray Parr Project: Increasing Atlantic salmon returns to the Narraguagus and East Machias Rivers in Eastern Maine

Project Name: Scaling the Peter Gray Parr Project: Increasing Atlantic salmon returns to the Narraguagus and East Machias Rivers in Eastern Maine
Applicant: Downeast Salmon Federation P O Box 201 Columbia Falls, ME 04623

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal partner responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act. The agency leads recovering and conserving the nation’s imperiled species by fostering partnerships, employing scientific excellence, and developing a workforce of conservation leaders. The Service’s Recovery Challenge Grant Program awards funding through a competitive process to support agencies and organizations implementing high priority actions to recovery threatened and endangered species. The grants leverage funding provided by partners.

The Peter Gray Parr Project addresses priority actions identified by NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 2019 recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon. The latest analysis on the species, released in November 2020, stresses the need to implement high priority recovery actions, noting that while progress has been made towards addressing many threats, a combination of very low population size and continued threats posed by dams, road/stream crossings, climate change, the West Greenland fishery and marine survival confirm that the Atlantic salmon is one of the most endangered fish in New England.

For more information contact:
 Meagan Racey
Public affairs specialist
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
North Atlantic-Appalachian Region
413-658-4386 (c)