  |
| DSF's Top Story: |
Best Town to Add to Your Culinary Tour
Columbia Falls
207-483-4067, columbiafallsmaine.com
Columbia Falls has at least two great tasty reasons to visit. The first, Wild Blueberry Land (1067 U.S. Rte. 1, Columbia Falls, 207-483-2583) is hard to miss — it’s that blueberry shaped dome, the one slightly resembling a grounded UFO. Venture inside and buy the fresh blueberry pies and the delicious blueberry scones.
If you’re looking for a heartier stop, each April the Downeast Salmon Federation (187 Main St., Columbia Falls, 207-483-4336, www.mainesalmonrivers.org) throws its annual smelt fry fund-raiser featuring smelts harvested in the Pleasant River basin. This year, six hundred people paid five dollars a head to eat the deep-fried fish served with sides, salads, and sweets.
The full story
|
| Other Stories: |
The International Joint Commission (IJC) will be hosting a public hearing in Princeton, Maine on August 4th on their draft plan to restore alewives to the St. Croix River watershed.
The full story
|
On august 10th from 4-6pm the public is invited to come to Columbia Falls for the Opening Day Hike at the Downeast Salmon Federation’s Pleasant River Community Forest. Attendees will get a guided tour of the property and its trail system, with a focus on fish and wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.
The full story
|
By Craig Idlebrook
Working Waterfront
Marshfield farmer Chris Sprague is dressed in colonial garb for the Margaretta Days Festival in Machias, an event that commemorates a naval battle that occurred in local waters in 1775. Sprague sits at a picnic table and quietly expounds on the threat of governmental intrusion on personal liberty and property.
But Sprague isn't channeling a Revolutionary War character; he's talking about the fate over the bridge known as the dike on Route 1 in Machias. Residents in Marshfield and Machias are alarmed over Maine Department of Transportation's (MaineDOT) talk of replacing flappers under the bridge that keep tidal waters out of the Middle River. They fear the flappers will be removed and the ocean will come washing back into the river with a vengeance.
The full story
|
By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — Just feet from the basin of the Pleasant River, where thousands of smelts were netted earlier this year, a favorite custom was under way Friday night: the 10th annual Down East Salmon Federation Smelt Fry.
The full story
|
On New Years Eve the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) placed 20,000 endangered Atlantic salmon eggs into the incubation trays at the East Machias Aquatic research Center (EMARC) in downtown East Machias.
The full story
|
I hope this letter finds you well prepared for the winter weather and fully engulfed in the spirit of the season! The snow and winds of near winter have now hit Washington County with a solid indication of the glories ahead.
The full story
|
By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff
ADDISON, Maine — About sixty people, including more than half a dozen state and federal agency representatives, gathered Tuesday night at Addison Town Hall to hear about the proposed replacement of a dike bridge over the Pleasant River.
The full story
|
By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff
MACHIAS, Maine — Nearby landowners are readying the arguments they will present to the Maine Department of Transportation when it holds a public hearing in December on the replacement of Dyke Bridge on Route 1, which crosses the mouth of the Middle River in Machias.
The full story
|
By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff
DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Municipalities will see a fiscal impact if a Department of Environmental Protection proposal is adopted that will change the way culverts and other stream crossings are constructed, Piscataquis County commissioners learned Tuesday.
The full story
|
By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff
EAST MACHIAS, Maine — Five companies have submitted bids on the latest phase of reconstruction at the East Machias Aquatic Research Center, an educational and research facility along the riverfront.
The full story
|
By Kevin Miller
BDN Staff
AUGUSTA, Maine — Federal biologists are investigating an apparent mechanical problem that killed more than 140 endangered adult Atlantic salmon at the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland.
The full story
|
By Beth Daley
Globe Staff / June 16, 2009
The federal government dramatically extended protection yesterday for the imperiled wild Atlantic salmon in Maine, declaring that the few remaining sportfish in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers and their tributaries are endangered.
The full story
|
With shrinking state and federal budgets there has been less and less money available for the salmon restoration program in Maine, so when the DSF decided to take on a river chemistry research project we knew that we would have to do significant fund raising...
The full story
|
In 2008, the DSF was awarded grant funds through the Maine Forest Service’s Project Canopy Program to plan and implement a trail system and interpretive signage for the Downeast Salmon Federations 424-acre “Salmon Safe” Community Forest adjacent to the Eastern Little River.
The full story
|
In February 2009, the DSF received approximately 47,000 Pleasant River Atlantic salmon eggs from the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland.
The full story
|
Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Magazine:
“First I catch them, then I clean them, then I cook them,” said Evan Emerson, a sturdy young man with flour on his apron. He had just fried the last batch of fish for the Downeast Salmon Federation's annual Smelt Fry, an annual rite of spring and fund-raiser for the organization.
The full story
|
In early 2009, the DSF was awarded $215,500 in grant funding though the Maine Riverfront Community Development Bond program for development of the East Machias Aquatic Research Center (EMARC). The program requires that DSF raise an equal amount through a combination of cash and in-kind donations for the project.
The full story
|
Please be advised that the 2009 Atlantic Salmon Recreational Fishery on the Penobscot is set to open on May 1st and will run until May 31st. Directed angling for Atlantic salmon is permitted only in the specific open area on the Penobscot River between the two painted red markers on opposing banks that are 150 feet below Veazie Dam, down river to the former site of the Bangor Dam. The fishery will be open for catch and release only.
The full story
|
Bangor Daily News 2/5/09
Guest Column Alan R. Kane
The recent news of the salmon egg die-off at the federal government's Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery is most disturbing to all those in the fisheries community. Within the hatchery, only those eggs harvested from Penobscot River salmon have been affected, even though the facility uses the same water, procedures and monitoring for all its eggs. So far, biologists are bewildered by this disastrous event.
The full story
|
By Kevin Miller
BDN Staff
EAST ORLAND, Maine — Biologists are scrambling to figure out what killed an estimated 800,000 Atlantic salmon eggs at the federal government’s Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in recent months.
The full story
|
On December 18th the Governor announced grant awards for the River Front Community Development Bond program including $215,500 for the Town of East Machias and the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) for the renovation of the former Bangor Hydro building as the new East Machias Aquatic Research Center (EMARC) in downtown East Machias.
The full story
|
The former Bangor Hydro Electric building in East Machias is going to come to life this winter as a salmon hatchery. The building which the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) has been renovating over the past two years will start phase one of its operation this January with the opening of a small scale hatchery, designed to raise juvenile salmon to be stocked into the East Machias River.
The full story
|
On November 12th, the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) received 2,500 freshly fertilized Atlantic salmon eggs that will be raised for the next two years at the Pleasant River Fish Hatchery in Columbia Falls. These eggs are being reared as part of an ongoing collaborative research project looking at the effects of acid rain, and low pH on the growth and survival of juvenile Atlantic salmon in the Pleasant River.
The full story
|
The Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) has embarked on an exciting new project to develop a “Salmon Safe Community Forest” along the Pleasant and Eastern Little Rivers. The primary purpose of the project is to get community members and visitors alike into the woods and learn about the forest, its ecology, and how it can be managed to provide wood products and quality fish and wildlife habitat.
The full story
|
NOAA’s Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a proposal to redefine the endangered Gulf of Maine population of Atlantic salmon to include fish found in other nearby areas.
The full story
|
For Immediate Release: September, 2008
Brunswick, ME: The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) commends the recommendation of the Department of Interior and NOAA Fisheries to expand the endangered species listing of Atlantic salmon to include the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot River drainages.
The full story
|
August 7th, 2008
Penobscot sees 2000th salmon take return trip
By John Holyoke
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Bangor Daily News
In his work as the director of the Department of Marine Resources' Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries & Habitat (formerly the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission), Pat Keliher has grown accustomed to long-range planning and incremental progress.
Maine's Atlantic salmon stocks have struggled mightily over the years, and constant conservation efforts haven't always shown tangible results that many have hoped for.
The full story
|
In what should be America’s most important river-herring refuge, superstition suppresses these imperiled fish.
by Ted Williams
Fly Rod & Reel, July 2008
This from Albion Goodwin of Pembroke, Maine—governor-appointed fish-and-wildlife advisor to his state and the man who, on behalf of the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association, has probably done more than anyone to set management policy for river herring in the Pine Tree State’s vast St. Croix River system. “They’re trash fish; they’re of no value.” Maine has more river-herring habitat than all other states combined. And the St. Croix—which, from source to sea, defines the boundary between the United States and Canada—has more river-herring habitat than all other Maine rivers combined.
The full story
|
Monday, May 12, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — There are about 50,000 more salmon in the Pleasant River this week thanks to the annual stocking effort of the Downeast Salmon Federation.
The full story
|
The Downeast Rivers Land Trust – a program of the Downeast Salmon Federation of Columbia Falls – has announced its’ latest project in a successful campaign to expand a permanently protected wild corridor along the Pleasant River. The Trust has raised approximately $40,000 to date toward a $75,000 goal to protect the “Patterson Lot”, a 50 acre parcel with a mile of river frontage in Twp 24.
The full story
|
In 1995, the Maine Legislature passed a law that prevents eastern Maine's largest native alewife population from reaching its ancestral spawning grounds beyond two dams on the St. Croix River by closing fish passageways.
The full story
|
Washington, DC – States and jurisdictions from Maine through South Carolina have scheduled their hearings to
gather public comment on the Public Information Document (PID) for Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) for Shad and River Herring. The dates, times and locations of the scheduled meetings
follow:
The full story
|
2007 will be a big year for the Downeast Salmon Federation and its new East Machias Aquatic Research Center (EMARC). Three sides of the building will be insulated and sided this summer. The fourth side of the building, which faces south, will await sufficient funds to install passive solar heating panels and windows to save on heating costs.
The full story
|
On June 14th, Maine Public Television aired a new episode of their Made in Maine series featuring the Downeast Salmon Federation. If you missed it on June 14th we encourage you to go to the MPBN website and watch this new episode! Click below to get the details on the episode and the link to the web page.
The full story
|
By Eric Russell
Monday, April 09, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
COLUMBIA FALLS — Chris and Edie Heilman of New London, Conn., refer to themselves as part-time Mainers, and they admit they still have a lot to learn.
While staying with family in Washington County last week, the Heilmans saw a flier for the sixth annual smelt fry sponsored by the Downeast Salmon Federation.
The full story
|
By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN
Wall Street Journal
Muscoe R.H. Garnett Jr.'s farm in Loretto, Va., hasn't changed much since the family acquired it in the 1600s. Now, the retired insurance executive has made sure it will stay that way. Encouraged by recent tax legislation, Mr. Garnett has placed a "conservation easement" on much of his property, located about 80 miles from Washington, D.C.
The full story
|
PERRY - Fourth-graders at the Perry Elementary School are excited about fish eggs. And not just any fish eggs, but salmon eggs from the nearby Dennys River. Soon the 200 salmon eggs the pupils helped plant in their classroom fish tank will develop and grow. Then, dressed in hip waders and carrying fishnets, the kids will set them free in the Dennys River, where their ancestors once roamed.
The full story
|
(Old Town and Augusta, Maine) The Bush Administration today announced that it is requesting $10 million dollars from Congress to restore the once-abundant sea-run fisheries of the Penobscot River in Maine, the second largest river in the Northeast.
The full story
|
NEWS CONFERENCE
Tuesday January 9, 2007, 11:00 a.m., State House Welcome Center, CONTACT: John Burrows, 207-725-2833, Judy Berk, (207) 622-3101, ext. 203
$25 MILLION BOND TO FUND REVITALIZATION ALONG MAINE’S RIVERS. To learn more click the link below.
The full story
|
Biologists from Maine recently published an article in the American Fisheries Society journal Fisheries on the historical abundance of diadromous fish population in Maine and the implications of current abundance for salmon restoration. For more information and to download the article click below.
The full story
|
In preparation for a final public hearing, the Department of Conservation (DOC) has realeased the final draft of the Management Plan for the Downeast Public Reserve Lands. This includes Cutler Coast, Rocky Lake, the Great Heath, and Donnel Pond Units. For information on downloading the plan and the public hearing read on...
The full story
|
The liming of the Dennys River to mitigate low pH and high aluminum levels in the river, which may be inhibiting salmon restoration, has been abandoned for now. For more information click “The Full story”.
The full story
|
(If the Canadians can do it we can do it too!)
November 18, 2006
Fredericton...The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) welcomes a one-time expenditure of $30 million announced by the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Fredericton that will benefit wild Atlantic salmon populations in the four Atlantic Provinces and Quebec.
The full story
|
Saturday, September 02, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
LOON BAY, New Brunswick - Three-inch-long juvenile Atlantic salmon - with a little help from some friends Thursday - went home.
But it will be the last time salmon will be stocked in the St. Croix River.
The full story
|
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
CALAIS - A multiagency study concludes that sea-run alewives don't appear to be a threat to the smallmouth bass, a popular sport fish, in seven Down East lakes.
The study involved lakes that reach from Grand Lake Stream to East Machias. They are Grand Falls and Woodland flowages and Big, Meddybemps, Gardner, Cathance and Pocumcus lakes.
The full story
|
Construction has begun on the Downeast Salmon Federation's (DSF) East Machias Aquatic Research Center (EMARC) on the bank of the river in downtown East Machias.
The full story
|
