WHITEFIELD – The federal government will pay nearly $400,000 to help remove an aging dam on the Sheepscott River to allow imperiled fish species such as the Atlantic salmon to pass through.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, says the removal of the Cooper Dam in Whitefield will allow species such as the salmon and herring to return to their natural habitat.

She adds that the project is especially important because of New England’s current lobster bait shortage. Herring are key lobster bait fish.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is giving the grant money to the Atlantic Salmon Federation. Pingree says it will help finance a dam removal project that will cost nearly $800,000 in total.

The salmon federation says the project will be finished by 2018.

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