Wild salmon are spawning in Maine's rivers

Wild salmon are spawning in Maine's rivers as I write this. Here are the reports I have heard so far. Please let me know any additional information, either anecdotal or official.

1. On Bond Brook, Doug Watts has observed an adult female Atlantic salmon holding just below a pool full of this year's fry. He will be out with camera and video this weekend to try to get some footage.

2. On the Sheepscot, Randy Spencer of the Maine Salmon Commission reports 15 redds in a partial redd count. Randy examined the river from Coopers Mill to Kings Mills, and found most of the spawning activity in North Whitefield, near the Route 126 bridge. This is the most redds in the Sheepscot since at least 1996, and no one has even looked at the West Branch or upper mainstem yet. Clyde Sproul of the Sheepscot Watershed Council reported a possible redd on the West Branch, and it sure looked like one to me. When the water drops back to normal levels we'll know for sure.

3. On the Ducktrap, Randy Spencer reports 27 redds in a partial redd count. The area he surveyed did not include what is traditionally one of the most productive stretches on the river, which will be examined later this fall. Randy was nearly knocked off his feet by a large adult which ran between his legs. I will be taking a small group out tomorrow to try to get film and video footage of wild Maine Atlantic salmon.

What is most important about these numbers is to realize that every fish that has been observed, (and every redd dug by those fish), represents a pair of salmon born in one of Maine's rivers which have spent a winter buried in the stream gravel and then two years in the river. This years adult returnees spent the summer of 1995, a severe drought year, in freshwater, if my math is correct. All of this time they were subject to mink, otters, herons, ospreys, and fishermen who might think they were small trout. THEN they migrated to Greenland and back, dodging more ospreys, plus cormorants, seals, and bigger fish, all the while trying to find and eat ever dwindling numbers of capelin and Atlantic herring, only to return to the exact the same spot where they were born (and had to migrate upriver during the summer on 1999, another drought year).

As far as I am concerned, every Atlantic salmon that returns to Maine is living proof that the huge ecosystem we are all a part of--which connects everything from water that starts at the summit of Mount Katahdin and Bigelow to the upwellings of deep ocean water off of Greenland, and all the land, river, and ocean in between--still functions. And the fact that so few are returning is proof positive that it's ability to function is severely impaired.

If these creatures are not amazing and worth saving, I don't know what is. Please get out on your favorite river this fall and see if you can spot these fish. Things to look for:

Salmon tend to spawn in areas of mixed gravel and cobble (up to about fist sized rocks) at the tails of pools, in areas where there is pretty good current velocity. Their redds (nests) will show up in these areas as light colored patches on the stream bottom where it looks as though the gravel has been dug up by something. The light color is due to the fact that fine, dark sediments have been washed out of the gravels in these areas by the female fish's tail thrashing. In rivers with lots of sediment load (like Bond Brook or the West Branch Sheepscot) this light color may not be apparent after the first heavy rain storm.

The best way to look for them is to wear a pair of polarized glasses and a baseball cap to shade your eyes. Then walk slowly along the stream bank on a bright sunny day when the sun is high (about 10 - 2 is best). The higher you can get your eyes, the more you will see. On bigger rivers (say for example the Kennebec below Waterville, where salmon now have access for the first time since 1837) you will need a canoe, and poling is the way to go.

Scan the bottom carefully looking for any discoloration or obvious disturbance. When the fish are actively spawning, you can sometimes actually see plumes of sand and silt being washed downstream from where they are working.

If you are lucky you will see a live fish, usually streaking away from you and looking for a place to hide.

Good luck, and let me know what you see out there.

And don't forget, it you miss your chance to see these fish this year, you may never see them again. They really are very close to being gone.

Jeff Reardon,
Fish Hugger