AMC Outdoors, Web Exclusive, May 2005

By Madeleine Eno

Dam removal, including that of Maine’s Edwards Dam in 2000, is, from all angles, good for fish populations. In the Kennebec River, which had been dammed in 1837, sturgeon, shad, and bass numbers are expected to increase greatly over the next 20 years. These fish can now reach the prime spawning grounds that were cut off to them all those years ago. In addition, the water quality has vastly improved and aquatic insects have returned in droves to the river’s banks.

Way back before the dam was even a glint in the builders’ eyes, fish were wildly abundant in this river. Weary of salmon at every meal, one 18th-century laborer even signed a contract that “salmon will be served not oftener than once daily.” A French priest in 1723 told of fish swimming the Kennebec “in such numbers that a person could fill 50,000 barrels in a day, if he could endure the labor.” But in 1837, in spite of opposition from forward-thinking Mainers, Edwards Dam was built as a source of electricity and power for surrounding towns. Within a few years, locals were reporting that, despite the fish ladders constructed alongside the river, the alewife run on one of the Kennebec’s tributaries was completely gone.

Pollution and overfishing also taxed the river. And many feared the removal of Edwards dam would cause it to dry up and remove any hope of fish ever coming back.

Since the dam’s historic removal in 2000, however, the fish are back. Here are some of the success stories:

• Alewives returned with such vigor that there’s now a commercial fishery for them at Lockwood Dam, upstream of the site of former Edwards Dam.
• Fish, like the striped bass which appeared just weeks after the dam came down, have reoccupied just about any part of the river they can reach.
• The removal of the Edwards dam shows scientists and others what types of water are important for fish to repopulate. For instance, it’s vital to have shallow streams for blueback herring to spawn—and that was not apparent before 2000.
• Twelve migratory fish species have returned to old spawning grounds upstream of the Edwards. They include an estimated two million alewives as well as striped bass, shad, and sturgeon.
• Harbor seals have even made an appearance near the dam site, following potential food sources all the way from the ocean.
• Birds that depend on fish and aquatic insects are back, too—bald eagles and swallows are now common sights.
• Back in the day, people used to close their windows to keep the smell of the Kennebec out. Today, they are flocking to the river to paddle its riffles and rapids and fish from its banks. 

“When the dam is removed, anadromous fish of all descriptions—from endangered shortnose sturgeon to the exciting striped bass—will gain access to spawning grounds that have been closed to them for 160 years. And the Kennebec River will reclaim its position as both an economic asset and an ecological miracle.” —Maine Governor Angus King in 2000