From Hakai Magazine – Millions of killer culverts lurk beneath North American roadways, strangling populations of migratory fish. Now with a nationwide project, the United States is trying to fix them. Roads have impeded fish since well before the proliferation of automobiles. In 1893, a log drifted down a tributary of British Columbia’s Fraser River and wedged itself in a wagon-road culvert, preventing sockeye salmon from migrating. So many fish crowded against the jammed pipe that they writhed onto the road, obliging an inspector to “engage men and teams to cart the salmon in order to keep the road clear for traffic,” per one reporter. In 1932, engineers in Arlington Heights, Illinois, found a pair of pickerel caught in culverts, and reportedly “enjoyed a good fish dinner.” But the real problem wasn’t the few fish caught in culverts—it was the millions who couldn’t swim through them. (more)