SULLIVAN, Maine (AP) A conservation group in Downeast Maine says a species of fish has returned to a brook for the first time in decades in the wake of a dam removal.

The Downeast Salmon Federation says the removal of the 50-year-old dam helped bring tomcod back to Smelt Brook in Sullivan. The group faulted the dam with keeping fish out of the stream and nutrients from being able to flow into Smelt Cove, which is located at the head of Frenchman Bay.

Salmon federation fish biologist Brett Ciccotelli says the tomcod are swimming beyond where the dam used to be and are spawning in the stream again. The group says it’s the first time that has happened in more than 50 years.

The removal of the dam began around last spring.