Scientists blame shifting fish populations as ocean temperatures rise. by Clarke Canfield, Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story PORTLAND — The Atlantic puffin population is at risk in the United States, and there are signs the seabirds are in distress in other parts of the world. In the Gulf of Maine, the comical-looking seabirds Read More
Protecting Maine's Wildlife
Maine is home to a wide variety of wildlife, and, for some species, Maine makes up a vast majority of their range or provides essential habitat that can’t be found elsewhere. NRCM works to protect Maine’s wildlife by advocating for policies that ensure they have healthy habitat and abundant resources to thrive.
Alewife Observations
Guest blog post by NRCM member David Wilkins Editor’s Note: In October 2011, NRCM member and alewife activist David Wilkins wrote a blog post about his personal project to restore this native Maine fish to Webber Pond, near where he lives. As David wrote in his blog, “The run in Muscongus Brook and into Webber Read More
Sebasticook to the Sea: Alewives’ Perilous Lives Crucial to Ecosystem, Economy
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, MaineTodayMedia staff Morning Sentinel news story BENTON — Alewives are little fish with a big story. Each year, billions of the silver fish hatch out of eggs in the cool waters of the Sebasticook River and embark on a dangerous journey to the sea and back again. Those that return must make it Read More
Alewives Swimming Up Maine’s St. Croix River
The Associated Press Boston Globe news story BAILEYVILLE, Maine (AP) — Alewives are expected to swim upriver of the Grand Falls dam on eastern Maine’s St. Croix River this week for the first time in 22 years. Lawmakers passed a law this spring allowing the fish, also known as river herring, to swim upriver of Read More
Feds: Many Causes for Dramatic Bee Disappearance
Associated Press AP news story WASHINGTON — A new federal report blames a combination of problems for a mysterious and dramatic disappearance of U.S. honeybees since 2006. The intertwined factors cited include a parasitic mite, multiple viruses, bacteria, poor nutrition, genetics, habitat loss and pesticides. The multiple causes make it harder to do something about Read More
An Evening with the Owls
At 4:25 on an early April Sunday morning the temperature was a chilly 24o, stars littered the floor of the sky, and the air was still as stone granite. I know this because my husband and I were returning from four hours of owling in central Maine. As part of the Maine Owl Monitoring Project, a Read More
Alewives on the St. Croix: A “Mistake” Fixed
Five years later, the policy of blocking alewives was looking increasingly anachronistic. by Douglas Rooks Working Waterfront news story AUGUSTA — By May 1, alewives could have a clear path up the St. Croix River drainage for the first time in 18 years. After a contentious hearing March 25 which lasted almost four hours, the Read More
Let Those Alewives Go
Bangor Daily News editorial The state committee charged with recommending whether to let alewives back into the upper reaches of the St. Croix River should base its decision on science, not anecdotes or politics, and approve a bill to allow the river herring unfettered access to spawning ground. Standing before the Committee on Marine Resources Read More
Crossing the Piscataqua
I’d love to believe that many years from now, my grandchildren will be able to catch brook trout in the same lovely little Maine pools where my father taught me to fish. Those native fish reply so reliably to our visits each spring that it has taken me a long time to realize that I shouldn’t Read More
