by John Holyoke, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story BAILEYVILLE, Maine — For nearly 20 years, conservationists and, at times, state natural resource agencies, have sought to open the St. Croix River watershed to alewives. Those river herring had their passage at dam fishways officially blocked in 1995 due to concerns that their presence Read More
fisheries restoration
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
A Home Run for Maine Alewives
The Benton Alewife Festival is set to celebrate a record return of fish hatched from eggs that were laid in 2009. By Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, Morning Sentinel Portland Press Herald news story BENTON – Alewives are on pace for a record run in Benton, whose residents will celebrate their relationship with the migratory fish Saturday during 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
Fishway to the Presumpscot Unveiled
Leslie Briders, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story WESTBROOK — The first of several fish passageways planned for the Presumpscot River officially opened Wednesday, just in time for alewives and other species to make migratory runs that could begin any day. Sappi Fine Paper was required by the state to build the fishway at Read More
NRCM Testimony In Support of LD 72, An Act to Open the St. Croix River to River Herring and Opposed to LD 584, An Act to Provide for Passage of River Herring on the St. Croix River in Accordance with an Adaptive Management Plan
by Nick Bennett, NRCM Staff Scientist and Watersheds Project Director Good morning Senator Johnson, Representative Kumiega and members of the Marine Resources Committee. My name is Nick Bennett. I am Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM is Maine’s largest environmental advocacy group with over 12,000 members and supporters. I am testifying in support Read More
Veazie Dam Removal Project Gets $1 Million Boost
by Dawn Gagnon, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story VEAZIE, Maine — The organization behind a key conservation project on the Penobscot River has been awarded a major grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, members of the state’s congressional delegation announced last week. The Penobscot River Restoration Trust will receive a $1 Read More
Don’t Underestimate Kennebec Atlantic Salmons’ Drive to Return
by Ron Joseph Kennebec Journal op-ed In mid-July, five adult Atlantic salmon were live-trapped at Waterville’s Lockwood Dam, the first of four Kennebec River dams blocking the upstream passage of salmon, alewives and other sea-run fish. The salmon, ranging in weight from 10 to 20 pounds, were trucked upriver of Waterville’s dams and released in Read More
EPA Orders State: Open St. Croix to Alewives
The directive overrules two Maine laws intended to protect other fish species, but environmentalists say the presence of the foragers will benefit ecosystems. by Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story In a victory for environmentalists, lobstermen, and the Passamaquoddy Indians, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has directed the state to allow alewives Read More
