Kennebec River Watershed Anadromous Fish

Restoration

Maine Department of Marine Resources21 State House Station

Augusta, Maine 04333-0021

State of Maine Anadromous Fisheries

GoalsState of Maine Statewide Fisheries Management Plan, June 1982

• To restore, maintain, and enhance anadromous fish resources for the benefit of the people of Maine

• To provide increased employment through the expansion of commercial and recreational fisheries for anadromous fish resources.

Kennebec River Watershed Fisheries

Restoration Goal

Restore river herring, American shad, striped bass, rainbow smelt,Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon, to their historic range

Strategic and Operational Plan for the Restoration of

Shad and AlewivesGoal: To restore the alewife and shad

resources to their historical range in the Kennebec River system

– Objective: To achieve and annual production of 6.0 million alewives above Augusta

– Objective: To achieve an annual production of 725,000 shad above Augusta

10 0 10 20 Kilometers

N

EW

S

#

Norcross Pond

# Lake Wassookeag

#

Sebasticook Lake

#

Plymouth Pond

#

Unity Pond

#

Douglas Pond

# Lovejoy Pond#

Pattee Pond

#

China Lake

#

Threemile Pond#

Threecornered Pond

#Spectacle Pond

#

Great Moose Lake

#

Indian Pond

#

Little Indian Pond

#

Pleasant Lake

#

Webber Pond

#

Wesserunsett Lake

Carrabassett River

Sandy

River

Ken

nebe

c Ri

ver

Seba

stico

ok R

iver

Ken

n eb e

c R

iver

Messa

lonsk

ee St

ream

#

Parker Pond

#

Clearwater Pond

#

Benton Falls

#

Burnham

#

Fort Halifax

#

Pioneer#

Waverly

#

Shawmut

#

Weston#

Madison Electric

#

Abenaki#

Anson

#

Lockwood

#

Hydro Kennebec

#

Williams

Ponds:Phase I (blue)Phase II (red)Phase III (gray)

Kenn

ebec

Rive

r

Seba

stico

ok R

iver

East

Bran

ch

Eas

tBr

anch

Seba

stic

ook

#

North Pond

Kennebec: Alewife Restoration

Anadromous Life History

1 - 5 yearsFW

SW

adult

egg 1 summer in FW

juvenile

3-5 years in SW

Alewife life history

• Adults migrate upriver from the ocean to spawn in lakes and ponds at ages 4-9 from mid-May to early June (repeat spawn)

• Juveniles migrate downstream from lakes to ocean in August-Sept

• Planktonic feeders primarily• Range from Newfoundland to North

Carolina

Importance of Alewives

• Important prey fish for coastal and inland fish species

• Important prey source for bald eagles, osprey, king fishers, fur bearing mammals

• Important source of bait for the spring lobster fishery

Bald eagle

Osprey

Great blue heron Cormorant

Belted king fisher

Herring gull

Black backed gull Mallard

Common Merganser Hooded merganser

Common loon Black duck

RaccoonRiver otter

Mink Weasel

Humpback whale Harbor porpoise

Harbor seal Finback whale

Atlantic cod Atlantic halibut

Atlantic salmonStriped bass

Bluefish

Haddock

American eel

Swordfish

Landlocked salmon Brook trout

Chain pickerel White perch

Yellow perch Largemouth bass

Smallmouth bass Redbreast sunfish

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Year

0

1

2

3

4

5

Pou

nds

(*10

0,00

0)

Horizontal line indicates long term mean: 1,908,186

Maine Alewife Landings, 1950-99

State of Maine Alewife Landings

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

Year

Mill

ions

of P

ound

s

$0.00

$0.02

$0.04

$0.06

$0.08

$0.10

$0.12

$0.14

$0.16

$0.18

$0.20

Mill

ions

of D

olla

rs

Millions of Pounds Millions of Dollars

2-day closure

3-day closure

Kennebec

Penobscot

#

East Machias

#

Machias

#

Narraguagus

#

Union

Saco#

Presumpscot

#

St George

#

Medomak

#

Damariscotta

#

Sheepscot#

Piscataqua

Androscoggin

#

St Croix

Watershed

Alewife

potential

Saco River 720,630

Presumpscot River 147,700

Androscoggin River 2,300,000

Kennebec River 11,143,086

Union River 2,000,000

Penobscot River 14,561,305

St Croix River 22,660,000

Damariscotta 1,034,000

Total 54,566,721

Causes of decline

Lack of access to upstream spawning

and nursery habitat and access downstream to the ocean due to dams

Degraded habitat

• Poor water quality

• Soil erosion

• Reduced riparian cover

Overfishing

Dams in Maine

Restoration Actions

• Trap, transfer and release returning adult alewives in lake spawning habitat

• Improve upstream and downstream fish passage

Edwards dam spring 1999

Edwards dam fall 1999

Before

After

Fort Halifax damLower most dam on Sebasticook River 2008

Ft. Halifax late summer 2008

Northern pike

White catfish

Ft. Halifax goldfish

Common carp