Code of Maine Rules › 13 - DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES › 188 - MARINE RESOURCES - GENERAL › Chapter 60 - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN › ATLANTIC SALMON MANAGEMENT IN THE KENNEBEC RIVER › Appendix 188-60-B - LOWER KENNEBEC RIVER INLAND FISHERIES MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
July, 1985
During the mid 1960's, studies were undertaken by
					 biologists of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, (now the Maine
					 Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife) to provide the Department with
					 information on the river's inland and anadromous fishery resources. These
					 studies led to the publication of
Fish Management in the Kennebec
					 River
. This publication addressed potentials within the drainage
					 for a variety of sport and commercial species, taking into account problems
					 facing the Department in developing and realizing the full potentials for fish
					 management in the drainage.
Fortunately, water quality in the main stem of the river
					 and many of its tributaries has noticeably improved through the efforts of the
					 Maine Department of Environmental Protection with cooperation from industries
					 and municipalities. Water degradation from wood bark deposits associated with
					 log driving has also been greatly reduced with the termination of log driving
					 in the Kennebec. Water quality in the Kennebec River above the Edwards Dam in
					 Augusta is presently suitable for the management of several species of inland
					 and anadromous fish. Dissolved oxygen levels in the main stem and its principal
					 tributaries are now adequate to support fish life. Oxygen levels of 5 p.p.m. or
					 higher now occur during periods of warm weather and low flow, a noticeable
					 improvement since the 1960's.
Restoration of anadromous fish in the drainage will require
					 fish passage facilities at the Edwards Dam in Augusta. If not properly
					 controlled, passage of undesirable fish, such as the carp and lamprey eel would
					 be allowed through these facilities into the upper sections of the drainage.
					 Since the extension of the range of these and other undesirable species such as
					 the northern pike, calico bass, and largemouth bass into upper section of the
					 drainage would adversely affect ongoing inland fisheries management programs,
					 trapping and sorting facilities should be required at strategic fish passage
					 facilities developed on the main stem of the Kennebec River. As a temporary
					 measure, it will be necessary to capture anadromous fish at the Edwards Dam in
					 Augusta and truck them to selected sections of the drainage, pending
					 construction of additional fish passage and sorting facilities at upstream
					 dams. The current upriver limits of several species of fish which could
					 adversely impact ongoing inland fisheries management programs are shown in
					 Figure 1.
Certain of the lakes and ponds of the Kennebec River that
					 lie within the area proposed for restoration of anadromous fishes support a
					 wide variety of gamefish species including landlocked salmon, brook trout,
					 brown trout, and lake trout, among others. Introductions of anadromous alewives
					 into the waters listed in Table 1 should be postponed until the impact of such
					 introductions on existing inland fisheries is better understood. The
					 interaction of anadromous alewives with salmonids, smelts, and other inland
					 fish will be assessed through a cooperative research project sponsored by the
					 Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Inland Fisheries and
					 Wildlife Department. Based upon the results of these studies a cooperative
					 decision will be made regarding future alewife introductions into the listed
					 waters.
Alewives may also interact with freshwater gamefish to the
					 advantage of the latter. For example, in riverine situations, where smelts
					 usually are not a significant part of the diet of coldwater gamefish, young
					 alewives might provide forage for river dwelling salmonids. For instance, the
					 Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has recently initiated an
					 experimental brown trout program in the lower reaches of the Kennebec River
					 between Augusta and Skowehgan (see Appendix I). The initial phase of the
					 project, which began with the first stocking of browns in the spring of 1983,
					 is designed to determine if browns can survive in the river and provide fishing
					 for a minimum of two angling seasons. Since the long term goal of this project
					 is to provide a brown trout sport fishery with a catch rate of 0.20 trout per
					 angler day and an average size of 1.5 pounds per fish, it is obvious that a
					 good growth rate is essential to the program's success. Young alewives,
					 migrating from upriver lake systems, will be available as forage for browns
					 that occupy the river. In fact, juvenile alewives might be the most abundant
					 forage in the lower Kennebec from late July into October and it is hoped that
					 they will enhance brown trout growth.
If the precautions noted above are carefully followed, the
					 restoration of anadromous fishes to the Kennebec River should play an important
					 role in maximizing the river's sport fishery potential.
TABLE 1.
WATERS IN WHICH PLANTINGS OF ANADROMOUS ALEWIVES ARE TO BE
					 POSTPONED
WATER
LOCATION
NORCROSS POND
CHESTERVILLE
WILSON LAKE
WILTON
VARNUM POND
WILTON, TEMPLE
CLEARWATER LAKE
INDUSTRY, FARMINGTON
PORTER LAKE
STRONG, NEW VINEYARD
SPECTACLE POND
VASSALBORO, AUGUSTA
CHINA LAKE
CHINA, VASSALBORO
GREAT MOOSE POND
HARTLAND, HARMONY
WASSOOKEAG LAKE
DEXTER
BELGRADE CHAIN OF LAKES
BELGRADE, OAKLAND, ROME
(ABOVE DAM IN OAKLAND)
SMITHFIELD, SIDNEY, ETC.
LAKES OF COBBOSSEE STREAM DRAINAGE
LITCHFIELD, MONMOUTH, MANCHESTER,
(ABOVE PLEASANT POND IN LITCHFIELD)
WINTKROP, ETC.
BIG INDIAN POND
ST. ALBANS
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