The Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office works to protect, restore, and enhance migratory and inland resident fishes in the rivers of Virginia, and to prevent the spread of harmful invasive species.
We also work with partners and landowners to restore aquatic connectivity, remove barriers to fish passage that are also safety hazards, and restore habitat for migratory and inland fishes, and other aquatic species.
Most of our work focuses on restoring Atlantic sturgeon, American shad, alewife and blueback herring, Eastern brook trout and American eel, and freshwater mussels. However, all fish and wildlife benefit from the work we do.
We also work with partners and landowners to restore aquatic connectivity, remove barriers to fish passage that are also safety hazards, and restore habitat for migratory and inland fishes, and other aquatic species.
Most of our work focuses on restoring Atlantic sturgeon, American shad, alewife and blueback herring, Eastern brook trout and American eel, and freshwater mussels. However, all fish and wildlife benefit from the work we do.
Our Organization
Projects and Research
Across the landscape, undersized, aging and improperly placed road-stream crossings create barriers in our rivers, streams, and tidal wetlands. These structures fragment aquatic habitat and prevent or greatly reduce the ability of aquatic species to move freely to migrate, feed, and reproduce. These poorly designed structures are also more prone to clogging, causing flooding, and washing out...
Latest News
Land Management
Thanks to the seventh generation of private landowners in Maiden Spring, Virginia, a 200-year-old dam, standing 130-feet-wide and 14-feet-tall, has reached the end of its time as a barrier to fish passage.
Endangered Species Act
After it had disappeared from almost 95% of its historic range, the Service declared the James spinymussel endangered in 1988. In the upper reaches of the James River watershed in West Virginia and Virginia and in parts of the Dan River watershed in North Carolina near the Virginia border, however...
Endangered Species Act
Following listing as an endangered species in 2018, the freshwater candy darter has now also been designated critical habitat protections.
Habitat Restoration
While it’s been about 80 years since the last sawmill on Maine’s Sheepscot River closed, the dams that powered the iconic 66-mile river’s sawmills had remained intact — until recently.