1. Assessing Diadromous Fish Restoration in the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers Claire Enterline 1, Gail Wippelhauser 1, Nate Gray 1, Paul Christman 1, Karen Wilson 2 1 Maine Department of Marine Resources, Div. of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat 2 University of Southern Maine, Department of Environmental Science Salmon Forum, University of Maine, January 8, 2013

2. Historical and Continued Importance

3. Historical weir fisheries Current recreational and commercial fisheries

4. “Alewives meet dam” © Heather Perry Photography Species Percent Currently Available/Active Lamprey25% Alewife41% Smelt~50% American shad69% Atlantic salmon73% Striped Bass100% Access to Habitat

5. Species Percent Currently Available Alewife41% Historical and Current Habitat

6. Species Percent Currently Available Alewife41% Low passage efficiency at fishways limits population growth Historical and Current Habitat

7. Working Towards Restoration: Kennebec River 1987: Kennebec Hydro Developers Group (KHDG) The long term objectives: Annual production >6 million alewives above Augusta Annual production of 725,000 American shad above Augusta Trap and truck operations for river herring American shad stocking Fish Passage improvements Goal : Restore Maine’s native diadromous fishes to their historic range and abundance in the watershed.

8. Working Towards Restoration: Androscoggin River 1983: Brunswick Fishway 1987: Pejepscot passage 1988: Worumbo passage Trap and truck operations Fish Passage improvements

9. Opening Habitat and Trap & Truck Operations: Measurable Results Correlation= 0.56, p = 0.0052;

10. Opening Habitat and Trap & Truck Operations: Measurable Results 1999 Edwards Dam Removed 2002 Plymouth Pond Fish Passage Installed 2002 Guilford Dam Removed East Branch Sebasticook River 2003 Sebasticook Lake Fish Passage Installed 2006 Fish lifts Installed at Benton, Burnham, & Waterville 2008 Ft. Halifax Dam Removed 2009 Fish Passage Installed at Webber Pond Runs by trap & truck 1992-2006

11. American Shad Restoration Fry Stocking 1992 to 2008 : Eggs collected from adults from the Kennebec, Connecticut, Androscoggin, Merrimack, Saco, and Sebasticook Rivers Raised at the Waldoboro hatchery Marked by immersion in an oxytetracycline (OTC) bath Receiving locations both below and above dams: Androscoggin Kennebec Sebasticook Medomak Saco Adult shad also stocked in Kennebec and Sebasticook

12. American Shad Restoration: Assessing Stocking Program through ADULT Returns Correlation with fry stocking = 0.56 p = 0.230 Correlation with adult stocking = 0.48 p = 0.165

13. American Shad Restoration: Assessing through Juvenile Abundance Surveys Correlation with fry stocking = 0.72 p = 0.005* Correlation with adult stocking = -0.06 p = 0.770

14. Atlantic Salmon Restoration Fry and eyed eggs released in Sandy River drainage

15. Future Goals 1.What is the potential for each species? Species Percent Currently Available/Active Lamprey25% Alewife41% Smelt~50% American shad69% Atlantic salmon73% Striped Bass100% Kennebec watershed could support over 9,446,765 returning spawning alewives

16. Future Goals 2. How do we monitor success? Juvenile Abundance Surveys Fishway Counts Video Monitoring

17. Future Goals 3. What efforts should be continued or (re)initiated? What are the constraints?

18. Future Goals 3. What efforts should be continued or (re)initiated? What are the constraints?

19. Future Goals KHDG: Annual contributions by the hydropower industry ceased in 2010 Remaining funds are dwindling Trigger numbers for installation of full fish passage facilities have not been met. There is no provision for continued funding and restoration activities will subside without a future funding mechanism. Long term restoration dependent on: Multi-species restoration Open passage, not dependent on fishways and trap & truck What do stated priorities not address?

20. Questions?