Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River
This year, 2024, 1,560 Atlantic Salmon passed through the Milford
Dam just south of Penobscot Nation’s Indian Island on the Penobscot River
heading upstream to spawn. In 2014, the salmon hit a low point with fewer than
250 returning fish.
Atlantic Salmon leave the ocean and head into freshwater to
find their natal stream to spawn. Once they’ve completed the spawn they turn
around and head downstream back to the ocean and repeat this astonishing feat
year after year.
This summer a few of us got together to paddle a small
portion of the Salmon’s annual journey. The paddle began with a half-mile hike
into a tiny tributary in the upper watershed named Holmes Brook. A
husband-and-wife duo, a mom with two kids and I made up our group of six. We
shared a love for all things water and have spent a fair bit of time paddling
or rowing in the waters of Maine in a raft or canoe. These small tributaries
and high narrow streams were better suited for stand-up paddleboards. SUPs let us
access the skinnier waters but also prevented us from bringing too much stuff,
which would make the inevitable portages easier.
For me, it was important to start at the headwaters. In
2022, Trout Unlimited/AMC and other non-profits had put in work to restore
parts of the Penobscot River watershed. I wanted to see if the habitat
restoration had been successful. I must say after only a year the logs and
placed wooded debris looked like it was already having an effect.
These tributaries once were the destination for spawning
salmon, but after decades of hard cutting and poor forest management they no
longer created a thriving ecosystem for fish to live or spawn. Thanks to
efforts to restore these habitats, wild Eastern Brook Trout and eventually
salmon young will re-populate these small pools and riffles. Hopefully getting
fat and strong on the abundance of black flies and mosquitos. We certainly contributed
to keeping that part of the food chain healthy during our hike-in and each
evening and morning of our trip as we tried to cook meals.