Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Maine
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Maine Project

Passage of adult Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River before and after dam removal

January 2005 - January 2022

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • West Enfield Fund
  • CRU
  • NOAA
  • SSP Program
  • NOAA FISHERIES
  • ARRA
  • NOAA Fisheries
Adult Atlantic salmon tagging

The Penobscot River has experienced two main-stem dam removals and other engineering changes, including the installation of a fish lift at Milford Dam (the lowest dam in the system) with hopes of restoring Atlantic salmon. Efforts to restore these federally endangered fish will rely on safe and effective fish passage. We sought to use acoustic, radio telemetry and PIT tag technology are being used to characterize migration patterns and passage efficiency of adult Atlantic salmon. This work in the Penobscot River, Maine, necessitating effective collaboration with USFWS, NOAA, Penobsot Nation, Maine Department of Marine Resources, Brookfield Power, TNC and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust. Characterizing migration patterns and passage efficiency in the Penobscot River, Maine can inform restoration strategies into the future.

Research Publications Publication Date
Gorsky, D., J. Trial, J. Zydlewski, J. McCleave (2009) The Effects of Smolt Stocking Strategies on Migratory Path Selection of Adult Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River, Maine. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29:949-957. | Download June 2009
Holbrook, C., J. Zydlewski, M. Kinnison, Gorsky, D., and S. Shephard (2009) Movements of pre-spawn adult Atlantic salmon near hydroelectric dams in the lower Penobscot River, Maine. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. April 2009
Sigourney, D., Zydlewski, J., Hughes, E., Cox, O. (2015) Transport, dam passage and size selection of adult Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River, Maine. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 35:1164-1176 | Download January 2015
Izzo, L., Maynard, G.A., and Zydlewski, J. (2016) Upstream movements of Atlantic Salmon in the lower Penobscot River, Maine following two dam removals and fish passage modifications. Marine and Coastal Fisheries, 8(1): 448-461. DOI: 10.1080/19425120.2016.1185063 | Download July 2016
Maynard, G.A., Kinnison, M.T., and Zydlewski, J. (2017) Size Selection from Fishways and Potential Evolutionary Responses in a Threatened Atlantic Salmon Population. River Research and Applications. 2017;1–12 DOI: 10.1002/rra.3155 | Download March 2017
Maynard, G., Izzo, L., and Zydlewski, J. (2018) The fate of hatchery-spawned Atlantic Salmon kelts released into the Penobscot River, Maine. Fishery Bulletin 116:281-290. DOI: 10.7755/FB.116.3-4.6 | Download October 2018
Presentations Presentation Date
Holbrook, C., J. Zydlewski, and M. Kinnison (2008) Effects of hydroelectric dams on survival and behavior of migrating Atlantic salmon smolts in the Penobscot River, Maine. Atlantic Salmon Research Forum. Orono, ME. January 8. PRESENTED. January 2008
Holbrook, C., Zydlewski, J., Kinnison, M. (2007) Assessments of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts in the Penobscot River using acoustic telemetry. 137th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. San Francisco, CA. September 2-6. September 2007
Holbrook, C., Zydlewski, J., Kinnison, M. (2007) Riverine passage success for pre-spawn adult Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River. 137th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. San Francisco, CA. September 2-6. September 2007
Zydlewski, J., Hughes, E., and Cox, O. (2010) Atlantic Salmon in the Penobscot River- Delays, Passage and Visions of Restoration. The 9th International Congress on the Biology of Fishes. Barcelona, Spain, 5-9 July. PRESENTED, INVITED. July 2010
Sigourney, D., Hughes, E., Cox, O., O’Malley, A. and Zydlewski, J. (2012) Assessment of Live Transport of adult Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River, USA. Oral presentation at the 142nd Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. August 2012
Sigourney, D., Hughes, E., Zydlewski, J., and Cox, O. (2012) Monitoring adult Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River using PIT telemetry. 2012 Forum, Atlantic Salmon and their Ecosystems, Bangor Maine January 10-11. January 2012
Sigourney, D. and Zydlewski, J.(2013) Modeling the downstream migration of silver American eel . The Nature Conservancy, Brunswick Maine. September 17. INVITED. September 2013
Sigourney D. and Zydlewski, J. (2012) Passage at West Enfield Dam. Oral presentation at the Atlantic salmon passage working group, INVITED October 5. October 2012
Sigourney D. and Zydlewski, J. (2012) Passage at West Enfield Dam 2002-2004 and 2010-2012. Oral presentation at the Atlantic salmon passage working group. INVITED, PRESENTED, October 8. October 2012