River restoration projects along the Maine coast have allowed populations of migratory fish to rebound, and Sean Ledwin of the Maine Department of Marine Resources said fish runs are exploding this time of year.
Ledwin said the tally at the Penobscot River in Milford has already far surpassed last year’s record run of 3 million alewives and blueback herring. And more than a million river herring have returned to the China Lakes, which fish can access for the first time in centuries following a river restoration project completed last year.
Ledwin said other recent dam removal projects are showing results, including one he visited recently in Washington County.
“We had just opened up a fish passage to Meddybemps Lake,” he said,” and there were seven eagles hanging out at that site, and hundreds of thousands of river herring pushing their way through an old dam site that we had removed.”
Ledwin said a project to restore the St. Croix River is also gaining momentum, with the Milltown Dam removal scheduled to begin this summer.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
