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Title: Alewife restoration in the Union River watershed
Author(s): College of the Atlantic: River Ecology & Conservation Class
Year: 2004
Publisher: Bar Harbor, Maine
Report ID:
Series Title:
Pages: 49
URL:
Abstract:

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The Union River Watershed—located in Hancock and Penobscot Counties, Maine—is approximately 500 square miles. The Union River is composed of three main tributaries: the East, West, and Middle Branches. The total length of these branches includes 484 miles of streams and 81 miles of lakes and ponds.
Topographically, the watershed is mostly hilly, although marshes, bogs, and forested wetlands are also present. These diverse habitats serve countless species of plants and animals. One of these species—the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus—has suffered serious population declines in the last century. Alewife numbers in the watershed reached an all time low in the late 1970s and have never made a successful return. Because of the ecological, cultural, and economic importance of these fish, restoration of the large runs that were once common in the Union River Watershed has become an important local issue.
Restoration has been recently portrayed as a process capable of counteracting the rapid loss of biodiversity caused by humans. Reintroduction of species is an important tool within restoration. Simply put, reintroduction is “an attempt to establish a species in an area which was once part of its historical range, but from which it has been extirpated or become extinct. The aim of reintroduction is to establish viable populations in the wild with minimal commitment to long-term management. Reintroductions attempt to turn back the environmental clock to return a species to its pre-disturbance condition. Reintroduction of species is a controversial subject, with passionate supporters and ardent detractors.
To many people, reintroduction of alewives in the Union River Watershed is necessary. Abundant spring alewife runs are a mere remembrance of the past, of a time when alewives swam the length of the Union River without encountering concrete dams. Currently, there is an alewife run in the Union river, but it in no way matches the historical run. Arguments in favor of restoring runs are numerous and diverse. Alewives are an ecologically important species. Their spawning migrations serve as an influx of nutrients to streams, ponds, and lakes in the form of eggs, excretions, and decaying bodies. Alewives are a preferred food for other fishes and many birds.
The argument for reintroduction is also based on aesthetic, cultural, and economic values. Runs are a natural phenomenon that have captivated generations. Many people feel the desire to see them again or for the first time. Alewives were an integral part of Native American communities, serving as both a food source and fertilizer. Furthermore, declines in fish stocks used for lobster bait (e.g. herring) will necessitate that lobster fishermen seek alternative sources of bait. Alewives are an excellent candidate and have the potential to support a commercial fishing industry larger than the current alewife fishery.
Despite possible benefits from the reintroduction of alewives, some people oppose it on both ecological and moral grounds. It is thought that alewives could have a detrimental effect on the community ecology of the Union River, particularly on game fish. Moreover, these people argue that random species reintroductions will fail to deliver a “naturally” functioning ecosystem. Many opponents of reintroduction argue that habitat restoration, not species reintroduction, should be the goal of restoration.
This report is an attempt to present relevant, unbiased information to stakeholders in that decision. First, we introduce the alewife´s natural history and cultural significance. We then examine the historic and present abundance and range in New England and the Union River Watershed. We outline various restoration methods that have been employed in anadromous fish restorations and discuss how these methods apply to alewives in the Union River. We then focus on
specific management issues and on other current issues surrounding reintroduction. Finally we review scientific and anecdotal evidence for potential ecological and economic impacts of alewife restoration.

KB Map?:
Core Keywords: Conservation // Dams - culverts - river barriers // Fish // Fish passage // Fisheries // Habitat // Lake - Pond // Management // Migration - Movements // Native species // Population structure - dynamics // Restoration // River-Stream
Additional Keywords: Alewife; Alosa pseudoharengus; Union River; Leonard Lake; Graham Lake; Hopkins Pond; Lead Mountain Pond; Hazlam Pond; Branch Lake; Green Lake; Beech Hill Pond; Molasses Pond; Goose Pond; Phillips Lake; Webb Pond; Scammon Pond; Abrams Pond
States/Provinces: ME
Spatial Info: Click to show Spatial Information

Alewife reintroduction report.pdf

 

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