NOAA awards $103 million to 16 fish-habitat projects nationwide

NOAA Fisheries put $103 million on 16 habitat-restoration projects nationwide. Nearly 350 proposals asked for $1.5 billion, about 17 times what the agency had to give. The awards are meant to put fish back onto wetlands, floodplains, rivers, marshes, and reefs that commercial and recreational fisheries actually use.

West Coast and Alaska salmon work takes a large slice: Knik Tribe $5.1 million for Gulf of Alaska Chinook passage; Trout Unlimited $7.9 million on the Chena/Yukon; California Trout $5.4 million for Klamath coho floodplain; California DWR $8 million for salmon and sturgeon passage; The Freshwater Trust $6.1 million on Oregon’s Sandy; Wild Salmon Center $5.9 million on four Oregon Coast watersheds; Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group $7.2 million; and the Skagit River System Cooperative $4.2 million for Similk Estuary Chinook. Inland and island projects include Nez Perce Tribe $1.4 million on Lolo Creek (Idaho), Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project $8.5 million at Tern Island (Hawaii), and the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research $6.9 million for Puerto Rico coral.

The rest of the map is marsh, Great Lakes, and a New Jersey park. University of Georgia gets $8 million for salt marsh; Ducks Unlimited $9.9 million in the Galveston Bay watershed; New Jersey DEP $10 million to restore tidal marsh at Liberty State Park; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians $1.1 million for lake sturgeon and walleye habitat; and Trout Unlimited $7.7 million to reconnect shared Michigan/Wisconsin priority waters on Lakes Michigan and Superior. Confirm the NOAA Fisheries project list before you treat any water as “funded and done” — these are awards, not completed restoration.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NOAA Fisheries — $103 Million in NOAA Funding Awarded to Restore Habitat for Fisheries (Sept. 10, 2026).