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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.
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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.
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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:
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By John Holyoke
Saturday, September 08, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
Wild Atlantic salmon (and those hatchery-raised fish that play an important role in restoration efforts) face plenty of obstacles during their lives. When they’re young and small, nearly anything in a river or stream can gobble them up. When they head down their rivers to the sea, pollution, commercial fishing, and other pitfalls await.
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The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission has directed staff to continue discussions with the public regarding the possibility of a spring recreational salmon fishery. The focus of the meeting will be on risk(s) to populations and recovery should a May (30 day) spring salmon fishery occur.
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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.
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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.
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WASHINGTON, D.C – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced the removal of the bald eagle for the list of threatened and endangered species at a ceremony at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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By Kevin Miller
Thursday, May 31, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
Diplomats and biologists from more than a dozen countries will gather in Bar Harbor next week for the annual meeting of the international coalition that helps set global policies on conserving wild Atlantic salmon.
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Recently an independent review of the Maine Atlantic salmon hatchery program was undertaken "to determine whether the current hatchery operations, protocols and practices are being implemented in the most scientifically sound manner with the greatest potential to further recovery of the Atlantic salmon, and that assessment and evaluation is appropriately integrated into the hatchery program." The report reccomends significant changes to many aspects of Maines Salmon restoration program.
To read the executive summary and download the report click below.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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(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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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”.
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(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.
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By Kevin Miller
Bangor Daily News
The fish may not have been biting, but Maine’s first salmon season of the millennium was enough of a success that state officials already are mulling the possibility of allowing anglers back on the Penobscot River this spring.
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NOAA Fisheries Service announces that the 2006 biological status review for Atlantic salmon populations in the U.S. is now available. The review concludes that the populations protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2000, called the Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon distinct population segment (DPS), should be expanded to include salmon in the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot Rivers, as well as hatchery fish used in the recovery effort.
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New York Times October 15, 2006 By C. J. CHIVERS
UTKHOLOK RIVER BIOLOGICAL STATION, Russia — The wild salmon still rush the dark Utkholok and other rivers here in Kamchatka, one of the last salmon strongholds on earth. They surge in spring and come in pulses for months, often side by side in run after run.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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June 19, 2006 St. Andrews
A report by the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) on the health of wild Atlantic salmon confirms that their survival depends on government resolve to solve the mystery of increased mortality at sea. ASF’s biennial report, based on advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), reveals that about 200,000 of the 700,000 migrating North American salmon won’t make it back to their home rivers in 2006. This amounts to more than twice the mortality of 20 years ago.
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Friday, June 23, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
EDDINGTON - For the past six years, salmon fishermen have gathered on opening day to rehash old fish tales rather than cast their hand-tied flies into Maine rivers.
But this fall, some skillful or lucky anglers likely will return home with new stories about the big one that got away or, better yet, the even bigger one they landed and released.
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Date: May 31, 2006
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Coastal Program and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission are pleased to announce the publication of the third edition of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Habitat Atlas which provides detailed maps of Atlantic salmon spawning and rearing habitat along 16 rivers in Maine.
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For the first time since the beginning of the “river specific” stocking program back in the mid 90s the Pleasant River was stocked to target densities with young salmon. In late April over 200,000 fry were released along with 14,000 large smolts. As part of ongoing efforts to restore the wild run of Atlantic salmon in the Pleasant River the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF), headquartered in Columbia Falls, has collaborated with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission to raise and stock fry into the Pleasant River.
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The Downeast Salmon Federation's (DSF)fifth annual smelt fry was a huge success. Friday April 7th people from all over eastern Maine converged in downtown Columbia Falls to celebrate smelts and the accomplishments of the DSF. An estimated 500 people attended the event and the DSF made over $1,000 to help support their many programs. To learn more read the two articles that appeared in the Bangor Daily News on April 8th and 10th.
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We need your help! You could win $100!
We are looking for simple, yet eye-catching logos for each river that will help both residents and visitors to our communities identify with the East Machias River, Machias River, & Pleasant River Watersheds. The watershed logo poster contest is open to students in grades 4-12.
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The project, which was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,is part of a larger Maine Salmon River Water Quality Planning Initiative that focuses on multi-agency cooperative monitoring and data sharing.
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Five years after the listing and two and a half years behind schedule the final recovery plan is available to the public. This recovery plan will be the guiding document for all future efforts to conserve and restore self sustaining runs of wild Atlantic salmon in Maine. Read the full story to find out how to get a copy of the plan.
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A conservation organization has worked with state and federal agencies and private groups to add nearly 7,700 acres to a larger project to protect headwaters of the Machias River in Down East Maine, officials announced Thursday.
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St. Andrews…Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) researchers have recovered 45 escaped farmed Atlantic salmon from four streams and rivers in Charlotte County, N.B. over the past week at the height of spawning season for wild salmon. Despite Cooke Aquaculture’s assurances in many news reports that the farmed salmon that escaped from their site were not mature, 43 (95%) of the salmon that ASF has recovered so far are definitely sexually mature.
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Tuesday, 10 January 2006
Donald P. Corbett Business Building, Room 100
University of Maine, Orono
The goals of the Forum are to:
-Bring together researchers, managers and others concerned with conservation of Atlantic salmon stocks in Maine;
-Provide a forum for update on the latest research results;
-Aid in planning future research and conservation efforts.
For registration infromation click below.
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Dear Friends, Members and Supporters,
We are writing you with a bit of exciting news - and with the hope of rallying your support to "close out" our first, full fledged "capital campaign".
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Dick Cutting worked for the Maine Atlantic Sea Run Salmon Commission from 1953 to 1968 and was a pioneer in wild salmon restoration in the Downeast rivers. He was a fisheries biologist in Maine and Canada for more than 40 years, working to protect and restore wild Atlantic salmon. He passed away in May in, Dartmouth Nova Scotia. To read his obituary and see a photo please click below.
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After a long cold winter, spring is finally here and thousands of salmon fry raised at the Pleasant River Hatchery have been stocked into the Pleasant River.
On May 5th and May 10th community members and volunteers gathered at the Pleasant River Hatchery to assist with the stocking of over 33,000 salmon fry into the Pleasant River.
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Intervale Volume 2 Issue 2, 2005 has been mailed out to DSF members in good standing but anyone can download it right here. Check out our 12 page newsletter packed full of information about salmon restoration and the activities of the DSF.
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The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) was established in 1984 to promote the conservation, restoration, enhancement and rational management of salmon stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean through international co-operation.
To mark their Twentieth Anniversary, NASCO is doing something quite new. They are undertaking a review of all the challenges NASCO faces in the management and conservation of wild Atlantic salmon and ways in which these challenges may be met in the coming decade. They call this the ‘Next Steps for NASCO’ and a Working Group has been established to advise the Council of NASCO. They will not only consider how to meet current and future management challenges but also the relationship with our stakeholders. A discussion document has been developed which outlines some initial options, developed by the Working Group to consolidate progress and better achieve NASCO’s objectives.
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ASF press release:
St. Andrews, October 18th, 2004 – Canada risks a repeat of the “responsibility collapse” that devastated Atlantic groundfish populations a decade ago – this time by its failure to protect wild Atlantic salmon.
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At the Nature Conservancy's annual meeting held in Machias last weekend, the Conservancy recognized the "Vision, energy and success" of the Downeast Rivers Land Trust - a program of the Downeast Salmon Federation - with it's Partner Organization of the Year Award.
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The predation of juvenile Atlantic salmon by Double Crested Cormorants is veiwed by many in Downeast Maine as a problem that is inhibiting salmon restoration. A recent article in the Portland Press Herald explores efforts by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Department of Agriculture to control cormonant predation on the Narraguagus River. To read the article click on the link below or Click on "The full story".
( Portland Press Herald article)
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St. Andrews…… The commercial fishery that targets North American wild Atlantic salmon on their feeding grounds off West Greenland won’t take place this August and that’s great news for future runs of this remarkable species.
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The Draft Recovery Plan for the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) has been released for 90 day public review and comment period. To review the document you can got to ( NOAA Atlantic salmon page)or stop by the Wild Salmon Resource Center and borrow a hard copy. Please take the time to review the plan and make written comments and or attend the two public hearings to be held in Machias at UMM on July 14 from 7-10 pm and at the Augusta Civic Center on July 15 7-10 pm.
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Mitch Lansky, Maine forestry expert and author of Beyond the Beauty Strip has released a new report on Atlantic salmon and forestry. The report is called Within the Beauty Strip: Forestry Management as if Salmon Mattered.
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This is an update as of February, 2004 on the proposed liming project for downeast Maine. The intent of the project is to identify whether or not adding a calcium product to the downeast rivers is an effective restoration tool for Atlantic salmon. Data has shown that the health of salmon, specifically smolts are significantly impacted by adverse water chemistry conditions that do occur in many of the downeast rivers during high water events most often associated with storms.
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WASHINGTON -- Urgent actions are needed if the once-abundant Atlantic salmon in Maine are to be replenished, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. These rehabilitation efforts are needed statewide to preserve Maine's population of the fish, which constitutes most of the Atlantic salmon population in the United States.
"The decline of Atlantic salmon populations in Maine has been pervasive and substantial over the past 150 years, bringing them close to extinction in recent years," said Michael T. Clegg, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and professor of genetics, University of California, Riverside. "Comprehensive, statewide action should be taken now to ensure their survival. And a formalized decision-making approach is needed to evaluate options, establish priorities, and coordinate plans for conserving and restoring the salmon."
[Pre-publication version available online: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091357/html/]
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