Recently, NOAA published an article highlighting the planned removal of the Rockafellows Mills Dam and the Raritan River Fish Passage Initiative, a partnership between NOAA, USFWS, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and multiple nonprofit and local government organizations in the Raritan River watershed. The goal of the initiative is to promote and implement fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

Learn more about fish passage projects in the 1,100-square mile watershed, the largest interior watershed in New Jersey. Multiple Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlements have funded dam removals progressing the initiative, including the American Cyanamid and Cornell-Dubilier Electronics cases. This proactive effort has led to six dam removals to date and the partners are planning for many more. The full article is viewable on NOAA's website.