C.M.R. 13, 188, ch. 60, The Strategic Plan For The Restoration Of Shad and Alewives To The Kennebec River Above Augusta - The Strategic Plan For The Restoration Of Shad and Alewives To The Kennebec River Above Augusta

Require upstream and downstream fish passage facilities at the Edwards Dam (FERC #2389). The upstream fish passage facilities need to be capable of allowing the collection/sorting/transportation of fish in addition to allowing passage. Restoration of alewives will be initiated to selected lakes and ponds in the Seven Mile Stream, Sebasticook River, and Wesserunsett Stream drainages. During Phase I, restoration of alewives will be accomplished by trap and truck. In the event that a fish passage/sorting/transportation facility is not completed by May, 1986 at the Edwards Dam, alewives will be transported from out-of-basin.

Restoration of shad will be initiated to the river segment between the Edwards Dam and the Lockwood Dam. This will be accomplished by requesting a passage facility at the Edwards Dam which will allow the sorting and passage of shad. In the event that a fish passage and sorting facility is not functional by May, 1986, an effort will be made to capture shad in the lower Kennebec River estuary and transport them to the river segment above the Edwards Dam. In addition, shad will be transported from out-of-basin, if available.

Trucking of shad from the Edwards Dam to upriver segments will be initiated five years prior to passage being provided to that segment.

Starting in 1999, fish passage will be required at all mainstem dams on the Kennebec River up to the Abenaki Dam (FERC #2364) in Madison, on the mainstem dams on the Sebasticook River up to the confluence of the east and west branches, and at the Madison Electric Works Dam on the Sandy River. Passage will be required at one year intervals proceeding upstream with the exceptions that passage will be required concurrently at the Lockwood Dam (FERC #2574), Winslow Dam (FERC #2322), Fort Halifax Dam (FERC #2552), and the proposed Benton Falls Project (FERC 7/5073). The required fish passage in these dams is mainly for the benefit of .American shad and Atlantic salmon.

The feasibility of truck stocking alewives as a substitute for fish passage facilities will be evaluated during Phase I. It may be decided to continue the truck stocking of alewives during Phase II.

The introduction of alewives into the following lakes during Phase II is dependent on the outcome of a joint study by the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: Great Moose Lake, Spectacle Pond, China Lake, Big Indian Pond, Little Indian Pond, Wassokeag Lake, Clearwater Pond, and Norcross Pond. This study is for the purpose of assessing the interactions of alewives with smelts and salmonids. Based upon the results of these studies, a cooperative decision will be made regarding future alewife introductions into the above listed waters.

Table 1: Potential Alewife Production in the Kennebec River above Augusta.

¹Based on an annual commercial yield of 100 pounds per surface acre and an escapement rate of 15%. Average weight of .5 pound/fish

²Assumes 100% fish passage efficiency (upstream and downstream)

³The escapement rate of 35 adult alewives per acre refers to the escapement needed into the pond or lake. Higher rates would be needed downriver depending on the number of dams and fish passage efficiency.

⁴Assumes there will be 100% survival of downstream migrating juvenile alewives. A 10% mortality at each hydroelectric facility (with downstream passage) would reduce the potential total production from 5,683,641 alewives to 4,047,800

Table 2: Potential shad production in the Kennebec River based on water surface acreage (2.3 shad/100 s(j. yds.)

¹Assumes tbat there will be 100% survival of downstream migrating juvenile shad. A 10% mortality at each hydroelectric facility (with downstream passage) would reduce the total production from 724,735 to 519,759.

Click here to view Image