Restoration funds: $192,600.00

Status: A fish ladder has been installed at Lake Lenape Dam in Atlantic County, New Jersey and monitoring of fish is underway.

As sole trustee, NOAA developed a restoration plan and environmental assessment. The preferred alternative and final restoration plan was the construction of a fish ladder located in Mays Landing, Atlantic County, New Jersey. The project went into construction in the fall of 2005 and was completed by March 2006. The dam buttresses Lake Lenape, a lake approximately 2 linear miles long and 0.5 mile wide. The Atlantic County Parks Department is the owner and operator of the dam. In October 1992, 129 miles of the river and several of its tributaries were designated into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The primary species expected to use the fish ladder is alewife, which is an important food source for striped bass, weakfish, and many other commercial and recreational fish. As of March 27, 2006 the fish ladder became operational and re-opened 22 miles of river habitat (including the 350-acre Lake Lenape) for river herring and other anadromous species. On April 24, 2006, NOAA received a report from the Atlantic County Parks and Recreation Department stating that "The April run hit full on Thursday. This morning the fish are breaking all along the bank. It looks like the fish have been coming here for 100 years."