Penobscot Nation to Restore Fish Passage at Three Midcoast Dams
Pitcher Pond outlet.
Excerpt from Midcoast Villager:
“The goal is to restore sea-run migration to the areas. When fish can thrive, this benefits the entire ecosystem,” said Carter Cates, fisheries program outreach coordinator for the Penobscot Nation.
The three dams are Mill Brook Dam in Searsport, owned by Steve and Astrid Tanguay; Pitcher Pond Dam in Lincolnville, owned by the Pitcher Pond Lake Association; and Chickawaukie Pond Outlet in Rockland, owned by the city of Rockland. The owners of all three sites have volunteered their dams for the project and will be working with the Penobscot Nation and its local, state and federal partners, including NOAA.
The project aims to assist the migratory patterns of Atlantic salmon, alewives, American eels and brook trout specifically, which Cates said “require access to upstream waters to complete their life cycles.”