A 2015 news release from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources explained that a four-foot sheet metal dam was replaced by 635 linear feet of stable stream channel and wetland habitat. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem might just be to take something away. That’s what happened in Bishopville, Maryland. The project spanned a decade, and it was nearly complete when the release was issued. As of that release, seven miles of creek were accessible spawning and nursery habitat for key fish species, and alewives had already been spotted there.
The old dam was located on Bunting’s Branch, a small stream flowing into the St. The sheet-metal dam was replaced by a set of pools, runs, and weirs. They make the channel more natural, provide easier passage for fish, and reduce nutrient pollution. These, however, are theoretical estimates. The study also found that the current fish passage structures add only small gains as compared to dam removal.
Martin’s River, along Maryland Route 367. The total cost of the project was $1.5 million, and over 50 percent of the funds were provided by the Maryland DNR through the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund. The bigger picture is presented in a 2026 study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Researchers Shawn Snyder, Daniel Stich, and Joseph Zydlewski estimate that about 52 percent of alewife habitat along the East Coast of North America is upstream of dams. Their model estimates alewives have lost about 880 million potential spawners to dams, coast-wide.
Catherine Shanks, who heads the department’s Habitat Restoration and Conservation Division, says the new design meets the needs of both the community and environment.
They had already observed a 20 percent increase in the level of dissolved oxygen in the waters downstream of the project site. The site also saw about 1,000 trees, mostly Atlantic white cedars, planted by volunteers, students from Salisbury University, and the Maryland Conservation Corps. Fish were not the only early good news. Maryland Coastal Bays Program and DNR kept an eye on the water quality while the construction went on. This is the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water that fish and other aquatic animals need for respiration. The trees will both stabilize the ground and filter stormwater.
