Efforts to restore sea-run fisheries to Maine’s industrial rivers are about to take another step forward, this time on the Saco River.

FPL Energy, which owns nine dams on the Saco, is scheduled to announce the completion of a habitat restoration agreement during a press conference at 11 a.m. today at Saco City Hall.

UPDATE - We covered that announcement, in fact. Here's the whole story.

FPL, which has already spent $16 million on fish ladders and elevators at the dams that are closest to the ocean, will spend millions more to bring salmon, shad and other fish farther upriver and deeper into their historic spawning areas.

The deal will set a timetable for fish passage at Bar Mills dam and upstream dams. It also will include money for other conservation and restoration efforts.

The move is part of a national effort to restore sea-run fisheries decimated over the last two centuries by industrial dams. Maine’s Penobscot, Kennebec and Presumpscot rivers are all the focus of similar efforts.

Stay tuned for the details and reactions.

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