DOI Project EBF 37; Westecunk Creek; Quantitative assessment of fish spawning passage before and after the removal of an obstruction; Edwin B. Forsythe National

This is an announcement for issuing a single source financial assistance award to the Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ. This announcement is for notification purposes only. This award is issued to provide financial assistance to collaboratively developed priority projects in Hurricane Sandy disaster areas that will restore environmental resources and improve resiliency. The intent of the award is to provide a quantitative assessment of fish spawning passage before and after the removal of an obstruction in a coastal stream at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Westecunk Creek, which is part of the Barnegat Bay, an estuary of national significance, provides upstream spawning, nursery, and maturation habitat for federal trust species such as river herring and American eel (Anguilla rostrate). The lowest barrier on Westecunk Creek is currently slated for removal during the summer of 2015. Pre- and post-restoration biological monitoring by Ocean County College will target anadromous river herring, including alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback (Alosa aestivalis). This project was previously vetted and approved for funding by the Department of the Interior. The appropriation for this project is the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2. Criteria for funding was based on the project¿s ability to yield the greatest return on investment by taking advantage of existing science and regional planning tools for resiliency and by working with states, cities, communities, and partners who contribute to the goals of restoring and rebuilding national wildlife refuges and other federal public assets to increase resiliency and the capacity of coastal habitat and infrastructure to withstand future storms and to minimize the damage incurred. The proposed project will provide data on the presence and passage ability of anadromous fishes in a coastal stream, before and after the removal of an obstruction. Monitoring fish passage will provide important feedback on the success of habitat restoration activities for federal trust species. This project is authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2.