Penobscot River Research Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1 Summer 2010 Inside this issue: Welcome From the Editor Welcome to the first edition and academic institutions. Fund- (DSRRN), a five-year, NSF- Welcome From the 1 of the Penobscot River Annual ing, status, and contact informa- Editor funded collaborative research Research Newsletter! tion are given for all projects so effort to advance the science of The primary purpose of this that you can easily follow up diadromous fish restoration. Message from the 1 newsletter is to share research with any researcher. For information about the Ex- Penobscot Trust from the Penobscot River with At 8,570 square miles, the change or DSRRN, please visit agencies, organizations, and Penobscot is Maine’s largest our website (www.umaine.edu/ academic institutions in order to watershed and New England’s Shortnose Sturgeon 2 searunfish) or contact the Edi- strengthen partnerships and second largest. This newsletter Spawning Habitat tor at barbara.s.arter opportunities among the originated from the Penobscot @umit.maine.edu broader fisheries and river res- Science Exchange which meets We hope you enjoy toration community. twice annually to discuss river Dam Removal Effects 2 the newsletter ! Inside you will find abstracts research plans and results. The on Fish Assemblages ~Barbara S. Arter, from a variety of sources includ- Exchange is a collaboration with Editor and Science ing state agencies, federal agen- the Diadromous Species Resto- Restoration Impacts 3 Information Coordinator on Bird Assemblages cies, conservation organizations ration Research Network Monitoring Sea Lam- 3 prey in Tributaries Message from the Penobscot River Restoration Trust Iron Ore Impacts on 4 Water Quality The Penobscot River Restora- the National Oceanic and At- erating investigators from the tion Project is a collaborative mospheric Administration University of Maine, the U.S. effort between industry, the (NOAA) and other partners, Geological Survey, the Gulf of Alewife Population 4 Penobscot Indian Nation, seven has identified core environ- Maine Research Institute, and Structure conservation groups, and state mental monitoring parameters private consulting companies. and federal agencies to restore that will allow us to document Several of these investigations Alewife Upstream 5 Atlantic salmon, American shad, restoration outcomes. These are among the abstracts in- Migration Study river herring, and seven other monitoring priorities are further cluded in this watershed re- species of sea-run fish to the influenced by two guidance search newsletter. Adult Atlantic Salmon 5 Penobscot watershed while documents: a conceptual moni- ~ Blaine Kopp Returns maintaining hydroelectric energy toring framework developed by [email protected] production. the Penobscot River Science 207.430.0122 Marine-Freshwater 6 The Penobscot River Restora- Steering Committee, and a Gulf www.penobscotriver.org Food Web Linkages tion Trust (the Trust) is the non of Maine Council protocol for -profit organization charged stream barrier removal moni- Species Distribution 6 with implementing the core toring. & Habitat aspects of the restoration effort, In June 2009, the NOAA Res- including purchase and removal toration Center announced a Sea Lamprey & 7 of the two lowermost dams on major investment in the Project Salmon Interaction the river at Veazie and Great with funding from the American Works, and purchase and de- Recovery and Reinvestment Act commissioning of a third dam at of 2009. This award has al- Fish Assemblage 7 Howland where a fish bypass lowed the Trust to begin imple- Survey will be constructed. mentation of its monitoring The Trust, with assistance program. Component studies Penobscot River Shortnose Sturgeon 8 from its member organizations, are being implemented by coop- By Bridget Besaw Movement Page 2 Penobscot River Research Newsletter Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum): Searching for Spawning Habitat in the Penobscot River, Maine by Gayle Zydlewski, University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, Orono, ME, (207) 581-4365, [email protected]; Matthew Wegener, University of Maine School of Marine Sciences; and Michael Kinnison, University of Maine School of Biology and Ecology. Shortnose sturgeon metric model will be used to tween June and October gut typically move upstream to select sample sites in spring contents of predatory fish be- spawn in the spring from their 2010. tween Veazie Dam and the salt wintering location. A prelimi- Sampling gear will wedge will be examined for nary estimate of the include artificial substrates and young of the year sturgeon. Penobscot River’s over- modified ichthyoplankton nets. Documentation of spawning in wintering population is Gear will be set downstream of the Penobscot River will lead 701 (95% CI: 445-1033). fish actively tracked moving to a better understanding of Although females with upstream and in likely locations regional sturgeon population developed eggs winter based on depth, velocity, and dynamics and advise conserva- in the Penobscot River, substrate. Detailed habitat tion and management strate- spawning behavior has characteristics will be collected gies. not been documented. in the spawning area if eggs or This project is ongo- In 2008 and 2009, un- larvae are captured. Due to a ing and funded by the Penob- successful attempts lack of salinity tolerance, young scot River Restoration were made to collect of the year sturgeon cannot Trust through the NOAA Res- Shortnose Sturgeon. eggs and/or larvae. exit their river of origin and are toration Center and the By Kevin Lachapelle. Acoustic tracking and a preyed upon in freshwater by American Recovery and Rein- Photo pursuant to ESA permit #1595. two dimensional bathy- other species. Therefore, be- vestment Act. Quantifying the Effects of Dam Removal on the Structure and Function of Fish Assemblages in the Penobscot River by Ian Kiraly, University of Maine Department of Wildlife Ecology, 5755 Nutting Hall, Room 202 Orono, ME 04469 Phone: (607) 435-1050 [email protected]; Stephen M. Coghlan, Jr. University of Maine Department of Wildlife Ecology; and Joseph Zydlewski, USGS Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit. The Penobscot River and thus fish assemblages and 2009 as part of a separate drains the largest watershed in should change significantly. study; data collection will con- Maine, and once provided Quantitative assess- tinue at those sites and at addi- spawning and juvenile rearing ment of the effects of dam tional sites chosen for random- habitats to migratory fish. The removal on fish assemblages in stratified sampling. construction of dams blocked large rivers is inadequate due This project is in migrations of these fish and to a lack of comparative pre- progress, with data collection changed the struc- and post-removal data. The starting during the 2010 field ture and function purpose of this study is to season. Sources of funding of fish assemblages quantify pre-removal fish as- through the Penobscot River throughout the semblage characteristics and to Restoration Trust include river. The re- track changes within fish as- NOAA Restoration Center, moval of two main semblages during and after dam the American Recovery and -stem dams and removal. Survey methods in- Reinvestment Act, Maine De- improved fish clude boat electrofishing and partment of Inland Fish and passage at a third beach seining. Wildlife, University of Maine, dam is anticipated Pre-removal elec- and the Maine Cooperative to increase pas- trofishing data were collected Fish and Wildlife Research Sampling Fish on the Penobscot sage of sea-run at established sites by Unit. By Brandon Kulik and resident fishes, Kleinshmidt Associates in 2008 Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3 River Restoration in the Northeast: What are the Implications for River Bird Assemblages? by Erynn Call, University of Maine Department of Wildlife Ecology, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME, 04469-5755, Phone (906) 630-0266, [email protected] and Malcolm Hunter, University of Maine Department of Wildlife Ecology. This project will pro- fish. The relative importance from McIntyre-Stennis funds of vide a better understanding of of marine and freshwater prey the University of Maine and the how river bird assemblages to birds within the context of Eastern Maine Conservation (RBA) interact with dams, habi- impounded river systems is not Initiative. tat, and marine prey. Point well known. Stable isotope count surveys along the Penob- analysis of birds and their prey scot and other rivers will offer will provide insight into food insight into how habitat metrics resource linkages. These data (within-river, surrounding land- will also provide a baseline to scape, and barriers [dams, compare to a future restored falls]) relate to RBA. Using watershed where marine fish Penobscot sites we can directly may represent a more signifi- measure changes before and cant food source to river forag- after dam removal and moni- ing birds. toring sites on other rivers can Research for this serve as a comparison to the project was initiated in the fall restored watershed. of 2008 and will continue in the One consequence of short-term through fall 2012 the dam removal on the Penob- and long-term approximately scot River will be to open pas- 10 years post-dam removal. Bald Eagle with Fish Prey sageways for spawning sea-run Funding for this project comes By Kirk Rogers Monitoring Changes in Resident Fish Communities and Anadromous Sea Lamprey in Sedgeunkedunk Stream (Penobscot Co.,