New life for an old tradition.

• Position: Maine - Fishway in Newport, Maine - Brief Article

CLF-Maine is helping to build a fishway (fish ladder) at the lower end of Sebasticook Lake, in the south-central Maine town of Newport, primarily by distributing funds from Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The fishway will make possible runs of alewives, an anadromous species--fish that spend most of their lives in salt water and spawn in fresh--up the East Branch of the Sebasticook River to spawn in the lake.

River-spawning anadromous species--including American shad and the endangered Atlantic salmon--will also be favorably affected. The Sebasticook River is the largest tributary of the mighty Kennebec River. It drains 946 square-miles, and in the pre-dam past it supported large runs of anadromous fish. Their survival depends on access to healthy river habitat, and once the Sebasticook Fishway is complete, the owners of two downstream hydroelectric dams will be required to install fishways. That will open up 28 miles of the Sebasticook, Main and East Branches, to migrations of anadromous fishes. There will be many prime spawning areas, with the Sebasticook drainage then providing the...