Buffalo expands steel baffle fish passage to unlock 700 feet of seawall for emerald shiners

Four years after Buffalo finished a pioneering fish ladder for emerald shiners, crews are now extending the design with steel baffles across an additional 700 feet of the city’s seawall. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says the added structures will reduce water speed, enabling the tiny silver fish to travel upstream toward Lake Erie. The project, which follows a 78-foot pilot completed in May 2022, is expected to wrap up in December 2026 and is funded by a multi-million-dollar Great Lakes Restoration Initiative partnership between federal and state agencies.

By reopening this migration corridor, the effort aims to meet Fish Community Objectives and repair long-standing ecological damage in western New York. Emerald shiners serve as a key food source for species such as smallmouth bass, walleye, terns and gulls. The fish passage is part of broader waterfront restoration work that includes harbor slip improvements, shoreline embankments and wetland habitat creation throughout the Buffalo area.