Penobscot River Restoration - River Science & Monitoring In June 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it would invest $6.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to help rebuild the sea-run fisheries of Maine's Penobscot River. An award to the Penobscot River Restoration Trust will fund removal of the Great Works dam. It will also initiate scientific baseline monitoring to allow tracking of physical, chemical and biological changes in the river following the removal of Great Works and Veazie dams, and the decommissioning and bypass of the dam at Howland. Penobscot Science Exchange NEW! Spring 2011 Meeting Notes and Presentations FALL 2010 Meeting Notes and Presentations Penobscot River Research Newsletter - June 2010 Fall 2009 Meeting - Click here for agenda, notes & presentations from the Exchange meeting Poster Presentation Poster presented at the December 2009 "Atlantic Salmon and their Ecosystems" Forum in Orono, ME. "Environmental Monitoring of the Penobscot River Restoration Project: Assessing condition in advance of barrier removals at Great Works, and Veazie, and bypass channel construction at Howland." Charlie Baeder joined us this past fall as our River Science and Monitoring Coordinator. Charlie comes to the Trust highly recommended with exceptional project management experience and strong interest in, experience with and commitment to the rivers of Maine. His recent work has been with the Sheepscot River Watershed Council working on stream and habitat assessments and barrier removal projects. He has been very involved in river and habitat connectivity issues working with the local Conservation District on the Kennebec Barrier Survey, the Interagency Stream Connectivity Work Group, and on efforts to pass a culvert bill in the Maine legislature. 2011 Science and Monitoring All of the science to be conducted during the 2011 field season, as described below, will be used to evaluate baseline conditions before dam removal.  This baseline assessment began in 2009 and 2010.  Work to be done in 2012 and 2013 will be conducted during the transition phase of the project when the dams are being removed.  The monitoring to be done 2014 and 2015 will show the early effects of dam removal on the restoration of fisheries, and on changes in geomorphology, water quality, wetlands, and marine nutrients. * Geomorphology: Researchers will be out this field season photographing the river, conducting bathymetry and seismology studies, and analyzing grain size data.  * Wetlands:  Researchers will be out getting data on wetlands, rare plants, and invasives. * Water Quality:  All the water quality monitoring field work was completed by Penobscot Indian Nation scientists in 2009 and 2010.  Benthic macroinvertebrate samples are being analyzed and results will be reported this year. * Smolt telemetry:  Atlantic salmon smolt, both hatchery and wild, will be tagged and tracked as they descend the river, passing over and through dams, to the Atlantic.   Last year's preliminary results showed high mortality on this downstream migration. * PIT detection:  Atlantic salmon adults and other tagged fish are being tracked as they move past dams on their upstream migration, and this program is planned to continue throughout the dam removal period. * Shortnose Sturgeon:  Researchers are back in 2011 catching sturgeon, tagging them and seeing if they spawn in the Penobscot River.  Some researchers think they migrate to the Kennebec River to spawn. * Hydroacoustics:  Researchers are using hydroacoustics to track fish moving upstream and downstream in the Penobscot.  When correlated with other data, it is hoped that hydroacoustics will provide accurate estimates not only of biomass, but also of fish species.  This is experimental and is being closely tracked by NOAA. * Fish Community: Researchers are back electrofishing throughout the Penobscot, providing detailed information on total fish biomass, abundance, and species.  This work supports the activities of many other Penobscot researchers by providing fish samples. * Marine Nutrients: Although Penobscot baseline field work is completed, except for some additional sample analyses, the researchers are planning to collect and analyze Kennebec samples this year to compare with the Penobscot samples collected in 2010.  The effects of dam removal in the Kennebec system may show up in this comparison.  NEW! Meet the Scientist! Steve Coghlan describes the impact of dam removal on sea-run fish and his work investigating fish communities pre-dam removal. Hydroacoustic Monitoring Video Check out our spotlight on sturgeon page, which includes photos and video of ongoing sturgeon research in the Penobscot River. Geological Survey work underway on the Penobscot ... watch the VIDEO describing how this is done. SCIENCE IN THE NEWS Bangor Daily News: Fish Returning to Sedgeunkedunk Stream July 15, 2010 NECN.com Researchers Go Electrofishing in Maine's Penobscot - September 16, 2009 FISH COUNT PAVES WAY FOR DAM REMOVALS ON PENOBSCOT, by ANNE RAVANA of MPBN. (see below) SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 Bangor Daily News: Electrofishing assists research - July 18-19, 2009 OTHER LINKS Diadromous Species Restoration Research Network (DSRRN) Maine Interagency Stream Connectivity Work Group 2009-2010 (Year One) Summary and Recommendations. FISH COUNT PAVES WAY FOR DAM REMOVALS ON PENOBSCOT, by ANNE RAVANA of MPBN. SEPTEMBER 15, 2009