The Atlantic salmon is an anadromous fish, which means it spends the majority of its lifetime in the ocean, but returns to spawn in the same freshwater river or stream where it was born. In Maine, salmon begin returning to their home rivers between March and November, with a peak migration during June and July. Unlike their Pacific cousins, Atlantic salmon do not die after spawning, and can return year after year to reproduce.
Penobscot River
Partners in Penobscot River Restoration Project Receive National Cooperative Conservation Award
Penobscot River Restoration Trust Old Town, ME – Partners in the Penobscot River Restoration Project have been awarded a 2008 Cooperative Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The award recognizes the unprecedented collaboration to restore 11 species of sea-run fish while rebalancing hydropower generated on the river. Representatives from the Penobscot River Read More
White House Requests $10 Million from Congress to Restore the Penobscot River
Press Release from the Penobscot River Restoration Trust The Bush Administration today announced that it is requesting $10 million from Congress to restore the once-abundant sea-run fisheries of the Penobscot River in Maine, the second largest river in the Northeast. The announcement includes details of the FY2008 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) budget providing Read More
200 Years of Troubled Waters for Atlantic Salmon
By Kevin Miller, staff writer Bangor Daily News news story Atlantic salmon did not disappear from New England rivers overnight. Rather, North American populations of this resilient fish beloved by anglers for its fight and by food aficionados for its flavor has suffered what some describe as “death by a thousand cuts” over the past Read More
HoltraChem Cleanup Proceeds
Tons of mercury-contaminated soil remain at Orrington site Bangor Daily News news story BANGOR – Hazardous materials crews recently removed more than 1,400 pounds of mercury from the former HoltraChem site in Orrington and soon will dismantle more than a dozen buildings and storage tanks during the next phase of the cleanup, Maine officials said Read More
Sturgeon Returning to Penobscot
Comeback good news for endangered fish Bangor Daily News news story Researchers at the University of Maine have discovered the first population of endangered shortnose sturgeon in the Penobscot River in nearly 30 years, offering scientists hope that habitat conditions in the river are improving. During the past week, a research team has pulled 23 Read More
Largest Fish Recovery Project in the East Gets Powered Up
Portland Press Herald editorial One of the largest and most innovative river-restoration projects in American history took a significant step forward last week by, oddly enough, increasing power generation at a dam on the Penobscot River. Dams on this, New England’s second-largest river system, were in large part responsible for decimating the astounding runs of Read More
Penobscot Power
Bangor Daily News editorial A project former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton called “perhaps the most significant step to restore the Atlantic salmon in the past century,” aims to restore fish habitat in New England’s second largest watershed without significantly reducing hydro-electric power generation. With the president and other leaders pushing for more renewable Read More
Three Dams to Get Power Upgrades Along Penobscot
Bangor Daily News news story A Pennsylvania power company plans to increase generation soon at three dams on the Penobscot River as part of a two-year-old deal to help restore historic runs of Atlantic salmon and other fish in the famed waterway, officials said Tuesday. In June 2004, PPL Corp. signed an unprecedented agreement with Read More
