Bagaduce River-wide fishways project hits new milestone
BROOKSVILLE On a recent spring day, Mike Thalhauser peered down into the recently restored alewife run at Walker Pond to see if any of the anadromous fish had completed the journey from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the local freshwater pond.
To the disappointment of the lurking gulls, there were none, but this spring, thousands of alewives will likely make the final sprint along the spruced–up run for the first time in order to get to the pond to spawn.
It’s something that only a few years ago wasn’t as easy a task for alewives, an important species in the ecosystem’s food chain.
Bagaduce River watershed fishways project hits new milestone
BROOKSVILLE On a recent spring day, Mike Thalhauser peered down into the recently restored alewife run at Walker Pond to see if any of the anadromous fish had completed the journey from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the local freshwater pond.
To the disappointment of the lurking gulls, there were none, but this spring, thousands of alewives will likely make the final sprint along the spruced-up run for the first time in order to get to the pond to spawn.
It’s something that only a few years ago wasn’t as easy a task for alewives, an important species in the ecosystem’s food chain.
Pursuit of grants stopped; projects dead in the water
SOUTHWEST HARBOR Residents will not get the chance to vote on Warrant Article 43 at the annual Town Meeting on June 5.
The article asked if voters want to pursue grant funding for two projects in town, but the Board of Selectmen decided on Tuesday to amend the annual Town Meeting warrant to exclude it.
Expansion and development of the Manset Dock was one of the projects and developing a parcel of property adjacent to Chris’s Pond that would include low–income housing was the second. Those involved with coordinating the projects were pursuing grant money from the state’s Land and Water Conservation Fund with an application deadline of the end of this month, as well as a federal Small Harbor Improvement Program (SHIP) grant.
People & Business: May 12
Celebrating 75 years
Southern Maine Community College held a spring planting ceremony to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. Shown at the South Portland Campus are, from left, Professor Brian Tarbox, foundation donor Eleanor Redmond, foundation board member and donor John Boyne, former longtime professor David Pratt, Maine Community College System President David Daigler, students Sarah Metcalf and Natalie Potter, and SMCC Professor Norma Willis.
Contributed / SMCC
Alexander
Topsham-based Maine Coast Heritage Trust named
Susan Alexander as the recipient of the 2021 Espy Land Heritage Award. The award is given every year to an individual, organization or coalition for exemplary conservation efforts in Maine.
Looking Out for Maineâs Sea-Run Fish
The alewives are here, some placesâ Alewives at Damariscotta Mills on May 8 (Photo: Ethan Andrews)
by Ethan Andrews
select A ânature-like fishwayâ in Saco (photo courtesy U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) At Benton Falls on the Sebasticook River, a channel leads fish from the elevator to the upstream side of the dam. (Photo: Ethan Andrews)
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A notice posted in March to the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration website announced the cancelation of this year’s alewife festival, with the possibility of a make-up event in the fall: “BUT, the fish do not care about Covid and you can make plans to see them return!”