The Denil fish ladder at Bloede’s Dam in the Patapsco Valley will be not be opened this year, the state natural resources department announced.

The dam is slated to be removed so fish can have a clear path through the area, because damage was done to the fishway this winter.

Only a few fish migrating from the ocean have passed through the fishway in Howard County since it was built in 1993.

The Department of Natural Resource’s “Fish Passage program is now focusing on removal of fish blockages,” said Gina Hunt of the department’s fisheries service in a statement.

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“In addition to dam removals, we can remove blockages that create a water drop of 1 foot or more and free up more miles for less money,” she said

The program’s purpose is to restore migratory species to at or near historic levels of the 1950s. As a result of the program, more than 340 miles of waterway have been opened for targeted species such hickory shad, river herring, white perch, yellow perch and eels.