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IIINTERVALENTERVALENTERVALE

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE

DOWNEAST SALMON FEDERATION

MeandersMeandersMeanders

September 2013

Rivers flow not past, but through

us; tingling, vibrating, exciting

every cell and fiber in our bodies,making them sing and glide.

John Muir

EMARC Parr project begins second year

This past fall, the Downeast SalmonFederation made great strides in At-lantic salmon recovery by stockingover 50,000 salmon parr, whichwere reared at the East MachiasAquatic Research Center. For thepast 20 years or so, fry stocking hasbeen the dominant stocking tech-

nique to increase freshwater juvenilesalmon production. However, thistechnique has not successfully re-turned adults to our rivers. We feelthat a shift in stocking technique, inthe life stage stocked, the numbersstocked as well as the quality of fishcan make a big difference in the re-covery program and increase returnsof adult Atlantic salmon. AtEMARC, we are rearing our fish tothe 0+ life stage (about 7-8 months

spent in the hatchery after hatch-ing). In doing this, we are protectingour salmon during one of the tough-est times of their lives, yet still allow-ing them some experience in theriver before migrating out tosea. We are also stocking at muchhigher rates than in the past, and,provided we see no adverse effects,we will continue to increase our

stocking rate as this project continues. Stockingthis 0+ life stage at high numbers, coupled withour alternative rearing techniques, give us hopethat we can make a significant difference in re-covering runs of Atlantic salmon.

To follow up on our fish in the river, we havebegun smolt trapping in East Machias. As juve-nile salmon mature they go through a process

called smoltification. This generally takes placeafter about two years of living in freshwa-ter. As spring arrives, the days lengthen andthe water warms, this is the young salmons cueto begin the smoltification process and head outto sea. As they move downriver towards theocean they turn silvery in color and increaselevels of certain proteins to help them copewith the high salinity encountered in the ocean.The number of smolt leaving the river is im-portant to understand because it gives us anindication of how the young salmon are surviv-

ing in the river. This is the first time smoltshave been captured on the East Machias River.The data we are collecting is giving us valuableinformation and helping us understand the pop-ulation size of wild salmon smolt, it also helpsus understand the smolt run timing. We areusing what is called a rotary screw trap to trapthe smolt. There is a picture (left) showingwhat the See PARR PROJECT page 2Smolt traps on the East Machias River.

Atlantic salmon alevin in substrate incubation

boxes. These alevin will be stocked as parr inNovember.

It is hard to believe, yet the phonecalls begin in January. Smelt Frypreparations begin in February and byMarch, volunteers are harvestingsmelts in the estuary right outside theoffice and processing (cleaning, sam-pling and freezing) the catch at theDSF Historic Fisheries Smelt Shack(built in 2010). The phone steadilyrings with the same question, Whatis the date of the Smelt Fry this year?This event, See SMELT FRY PG 3...

The 2013 Smelt fry was a

huge success!!

*In-ter-vale n. [a blending of INTERVAL + VALE] [Americanism, Chiefly New England] low,flat land between hills or along a river. Websters New World Dictionary

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Despite the raw, windy weather, the1st Annual Smolt Bolt and BloaterBash was a success. We had nearly40 people registered ahead of timeand an additional 20 registered on the

day of the event. Loads of friends andsupporters packed the EMARC visi-tor center after the race was finishedto warm up, socialize and eat bloat-ers (whole smoked alewives).

The race started on the Machiasdike where participants weredropped off by a shuttle and they ranand walked along Downeast SunriseTrail. Halfway through the coursethey were greeted by a hardworkingteam of teens and kids at the water

stop. They finished at the hatchery inEast Machias. The first, second andthird place finishers for men andwomen received pint glasses etchedwith our salmon logo and a number

of lucky participantsreceived gift certificatesto local businesses..

The week leading up tothe event, DSF staff

brined and smoked over500 locally harvestedalewives. By event daythe smokehouse hadcooled down but thegrill was hot and therewere plenty of hot bloaters for everyone. Mostattendees had never heard of a bloater before,but left the event knowing how good theytaste.

A big thanks is in order for the sponsors, vol-unteers and board members. We had help with

everything from stopping traffic to grillingbloaters to driving shuttle to supplying a schoolof beautifully decorated salmon silhouettes touse as race course arrows. It is because of vol-unteers that the race went smoothly and safely.

1st Annual Smolt bolt and Bloater Bash draws 60 participants And lots of sup-

porters, Despite the raw weather.

1st Annual Smolt Bolt finish line at EMARC.

Parr project cont...screw trap looks like. As the screwturns, the fish end up in a trapbox. The trap, as you can see, isonly trapping fish in a small portionof the river, there is plenty of roomfor fish to swim around. The goal is

not to trap all of the fish, but toknow what percentage of the popula-tion we are able to catch; in otherwords, how efficient our trap is atcatching smolt. In order to under-stand this, we have to mark everysmolt we catch with a small fin clipand release them upstream. Basedon how many of the marked fish were-capture, along with a few otherfactors, we can determine how effi-cient the traps are and figure out

what percentage of the populationwe captured, thus telling us the pop-ulation size of smolt leaving the riv-er. The fish we released last fall willnot be mature enough to smoltifythis year, so we didnt expect to seemany in our smolt traps yet (all ofour fish are marked with a fin clipwhich will distinguish them fromwild salmon). This year we workedout the kinks in the trap setup

Keep on the lookout for informationabout next years race. Now all of ushave one year as race organizers un-der our belt and the 2nd Annual SmoltBolt and Bloater Bash will be evenbetter than the first.

Tanks and incubation boxes at EMARC.

and compiled some baseline data on the wildpopulation; next year we fully expect to seeloads of our stocked fish showing up in thesmolt trap.

Amidst the excitement of smolt trapping, ourhatchery has been in full swing. We currentlyhave just over 90,000 salmon on site and theyare growing fast. With the help from the NorthAtlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) we have installed6 additional tanks for a total of 10. At this timewe are running 7 tanks, each with 14-15,000young salmon in them. All of our salmonemerged from their incubation boxes and foundtheir way into the tanks they will call home for6 months. We began feeding and monitoring

their tank water velocity in an effortto keep them swimming vigorously toready them for their lives in thewild. Throughout the summer, wehave been working with other organi-zations to improve the river habitat

they will be released into this fall.DSF looks forward to staying in-

volved in habitat restoration efforts,and the project at EMARC has at-tracted the attention of other organi-zations which will, in turn, increasethe habitat restoration efforts on theEast Machias River. We will beworking with Project SHARE, MaineDepartment of Marine Resources,and the US Fish and Wildlife Serviceon removing remnant log drive dams,

adding wood to streams to add habitatand nutrients, using clam shells tobuffer acidic streams, monitoringriver and stream temperature, and wewill be addressing some poor roadcrossings that are becoming issues forall fish, not just the salmon. There isa lot going on in the East Machiaswatershed, keep your eyes on it, andon DSF as we move forward with thisextremely exciting project.

Like our facebook page to keep up to date

on everything that is going on at the DSF

and get updates on activities like the

Smolt Bolt!

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that began as a pot luck gathering of30 people at the Wild Salmon Re-source Center in 1998, has become sopopular that out- of-state visitors plantheir spring vacations Downeastaround it. This unique event cele-brates Downeast traditions and DSFefforts to preserve their future. Thefood is the main draw for our 400-500 guests, with fried smelts featuredas the star, with other Maine raised,

local foods such as Downeast bakedbeans, potato salad and blueberrycobbler served as accompaniments.

The Smelt Fry comes on the heels ofa long Maine winter and is thought ofas a rite of spring for many. Folksgather to eat, socialize and gainawareness of what DSF is currentlyworking on. We all are there to cele-brate our region and its many naturalresources we hold near and dear toour hearts. Along with the food and

community camaraderie at this event,DSF annually honors an outstandingadvocate for DSF, our mission and therivers Downeast with the Passing ofthe Paddle. The 2012 recipients, thestudents of Washington Academywho have devoted many hours andput forth great efforts at EMARC andon the river as well, presented thepaddle to the Atlantic Salmon Feder-ations U.S. Programs President,

Andy Goode. Andy has long been a supporterof our efforts and has been instrumental in get-ting the players together to expand the EMARChatchery as well as many other projects on theDowneast Rivers. In addition, DSF also dis-plays the art of and presents awards to the win-ners of the DSF Annual Student Art Contest.The contest is open to all Washington County

students, the artwork is amazing and the contestusually has over 250 entries.

The Smelt Fry is considered a friend raiser,

bringing together everyone as a community

with a vested interest in the work of DSF. For

many this work is happening in their own back

yards, for others it is in a region filled with fam-

ily, friends and cherished memories. This event

has grown over the years and now consists of

two tents (40x80 + 20x40) with seating for

300, additional tables inside the community

building and outside the tent; a bounce house,raffles, art awards, activities and lots of infor-

mation on the important issues DSF is address-

ing. It takes a lot of work to host this event,

and without our sponsors and many volunteers,

DSF could not successfully do so. A special

thanks goes out to Bangor Hydro Electric and to

Downeast Smith Barney for their significant

annual sponsorship along with many others who

contribute time, money and supplies to make

this popular event possible. This was the 10th

year under the big tents and DSF plans on con-

tinuing this annual tradition far into the future.

The date of the 2014 event is Friday, April 18th

(for those who want to add it to their calen-

dars)!

Smelt fry cont...

One of the many fun activities at the Smelt Fry!!

A volunteer from Psi Delta fraternity

serves up some smoked alewife dip!

In an effort to increase the survival ofsalmon stocked into the rivers fromour two hatcheries, we are workingto find and refine new hatchery tech-niques. As part of our fall parr project

at the East Machias Aquatic ResearchCenter (EMARC) we have adopted anew technique developed by PeterGray, an international fisheries con-sultant from Scotland. Peter has de-veloped and refined a substrate incu-bator that more closely mimics a nat-ural redd (salmon nest) than tradi-tional incubation trays, produces larg-er fry at first feeding and reducesmortalities during the transition tofirst feeding. After rearing and hatch-

ing in traditional incubation trays thealevin (newly hatched baby salmon)are transferred into the substrate in-

cubators. They remain in their artifi-cial redd until early May when theyare ready to start feeding and swimout of the incubator and into a rearingtank.As alevin grow they do not feed, in-

stead they draw on nutrients withintheir yolk sacs for energy, so theirsize at emergence or first feeding isdetermined by the size of their yolksac and how much of the energy isconverted to body mass vs expendedswimming or other activities. In thewild, Atlantic salmon eggs are buriedin the gravel where they each havetheir own space See SUBSTRATEINCUBATION BOXES pg 5

Substrate incubation

boxes prove to be

Effective in rearing fry

One of the substrate incubation boxes at

EMARC

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Tradition is something that runs deepin the waters of Downeast. For years,Mainers of the region have pickedblueberries in the summer, cranber-ries in the fall, fir tips for Christmas

and lobster anytime. But there is oneharvest that means more than any-thing for some. January marks thebeginning of the deep freeze asbrightly colored shacks move onto theice in anticipation of the smelt run.These slender, silver fish make theirway into the bays, basins and rivers ofMaine each year as the determinedsink lines and nets of fishermen areset, hoping to hook into a few. Somelucky fisherman will walk away with

their limit for the day, others maynot. In the Maine fishing community,few things define the winter morethan smelting.

This year, like many years before,the Downeast Salmon Federationprepped for its annual Smelt Fry. Thecondiments were ordered, donationswere requested, and tables were rent-ed. But there was still one major itemto be taken care of. As the first netdropped in front of the office at the

Wild Salmon Resource Center on St.Patricks Day weekend, a core groupof volunteers came together to ensurethe success. The nets were pulled,some full, some not and quicklybrought to shore where they werepicked of their bounty. Buckets ofsmelt filled the rustic fish camp asthose volunteers took to cleaning thefish. After 12 set nets, 20 volunteersand 130 pounds of fish, the Smelt Fryhad acquired its key needs.

While the Smelt Fry may be just aone day event, it carries on through-out the year and beyond. Tradition issomething that the Downeast SalmonFederation strives to preserve. Con-nections to the past help inform ourfuture and ensure that we do not losethe unique qualities that make us whowe are. The Smelt Fry reminds usevery year what it means to be inMaine.

The pastime of smelting

on the Pleasant river

Local smelt fisherman Sewell Look gets his net full of

smelts ready to pick.

Inspired by work in the PacificNorthwest and as a result of thesalmon and trout conservation workgoing on in Maine, there has been a

push to increase the amount of largewood in the rivers and streams inMaine. Historically our rivers andstreams had lots of large wood thatformed the habitat in which our na-tive fish evolved over thousands ofyears. For more than 250 years,extensive timber harvesting, log driv-ing, and obstruction removal hassignificantly decreased the amount oflarge wood in our rivers and streams,reducing the habitat quality for our

native fishes, especially trout andsalmon. To change this, groups inthe state are adding trees back to thestreams. In the Downeast salmonrivers, Project SHARE has spear-headed a new approach to largewood addition and, in collaborationwith the DSF and DMR Sea RunFisheries and Habitat Divi-sion, significant stretches of salmonand trout habitat have been treated(see restoration article on page 7.)

The Maine Forest Service has alsobecome involved in large wood addi-tions and is providing Chop andDrop trainings for biologists, forest-ers, and loggers. On June 18th theDSF hosted a Coldwater FisheriesChop and Drop Habitat Improve-ment Workshop at the East MachiasAquatic Research Center. Thereseems to be momentum buildingaround the importance of large woodin river and stream health and withcollaboration and increasing capacity,

large portions of the habitat in theDowneast salmon rivers could betreated, resulting in better habitatand greater numbers of trout andsalmon!

Habitat restoration

workshop hosted at

EMARC

The East Machias River has one of the best ale-wife runs in the state. This is due in part to thelarge number of lakes in the water-

shed. However, a lake is only useful for produc-ing alewives if it is accessible to the alewives. Atthe headwaters of the East Machias River, Craw-ford and Pocomooshine Lakes are large andmake up a significant amount of the habitat inthe watershed. The water level in those lakes ismaintained by a low head dam at the outlet toCrawford Lake. There is a fish ladder in the dambut it has significantly degraded and is under-sized. But on August 9th , DSF signed a contractwith Fundy Contractors to rebuild the fish-way. The DSF has worked closely with The

Crawford/Pocomoonshine Lake Association andthe Atlantic Salmon Federation to fundraise andimplement this project. In 2011-12, money wasraised and the design and engineering was com-pleted. In 2012-13 the remainder of the projectfunds were raised and construction should beginin August with an October completion date. Soin 2014, the alewives, along with the salmon,trout, shad, lamprey and eels, will all have goodaccess to the headwaters of the East MachiasRiver.

Work on pokey dam fishway

to begin this August

If you would like to host a workshopor meeting at our EMARC facility

give us a call. We can accommodateyour presentation needs!

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where they interact with few othersalmon. Within the hatchery, how-ever, salmon are typically raised tofry stage within egg incubationtrays. Instead of hiding, buriedamong the substrate, alevin are kept

in a container that provides no shel-ter and high densities of fish. As aresult the alevin are under significantstress and tend to swim to the cor-ners of the trays and pile on top ofeach other.The substrate incubation boxes are

designed to provide the alevin amplehabitat to hide in and develop in away similar to wild fish. The boxesare filled with plastic media designedto provide lots of nooks and crannies

for the young salmon to hide in, justlike gravel in the wild. Water ispumped into the bottom of the box-es and exits through openings in thetop, emptying directly into a hatch-ery tank. When alevin have used uptheir yolk sacs they will emerge fromthe artificial media just like theywould emerge from the gravel in thewild. Upon emerging they swimdirectly into a hatchery tank. PeterGray asserts that because each alevin

has its own nook in the substrateincubator that they are under lessstress, spend less time swimming andmore of the energy contained intheir yolk sac is converted to bodymass.

At EMARC, 2013 was the secondyear that all of our salmon werereared in substrate incubators, butwe were interested in trying it at thePleasant River Fish Hatchery (PRFH)and thought it was a good opportuni-

ty to test whether the technique wasan improvement over traditionaltechniques. So, in the spring of 2013we worked with University of Maineat Machias intern Mathew Leegwaterto conduct an experiment comparingthe size of fry reared in a traditionalsetting to those raised in our incuba-tion boxes, and came up with somepretty compelling results.

At the PRFH Atlantic salmon eggs

were incubated normally within egg trays untilthey hatched into alevin. Upon hatching halfof the alevin were transferred to the substrateincubation boxes, and other half remained inegg trays. A few months later fry began toemerge from the incubation boxes. For eachstocking group 200 alevin were weighed inbatches of 20 from the substrate incubator andtraditionally reared fish. Based on the data,after measuring the weights of thousands of fry,it appears that fry raised within the substrateincubation boxes were approximately 18%larger than fry raised within the incubationtrays. At EMARC the transition to first feedingwas also very good for substrate incubatorfish. Traditionally hatchery managers can ex-pect mortality rates of around 10% at transitionto first feeding but the substrate incubator fishmortality rate at that stage was below 2%. Inother words the incubation boxes were a suc-cess!

The Downeast Salmon Federation strives tostock out the healthiest and most natural fishpossible. The substrate incubation boxes allowour hatcheries to produce a fry that is larger,has been subject to less stress, and with a lowermortality rate than traditional rearing. It is our

hope that making changes to this rear-ing technique, such as using the sub-strate incubation box, will help in-crease the survival rate of our fish inthe rivers and streams and give thema better chance to return as adultsalmon.

Heath stacks. These are the conventional way to rear

fry. Salmon eggs are placed in these trays, allowed to

hatch, and the alevin remain in the trays until they

are ready to feed, or be stocked into the river as fry.

Substrate incubation

boxes cont...

By chance and by design there is anincreased level of fisheries restora-tion focus on the East Machias Riverand its watershed. There has been ongoing conservation and restorationactivities in the watershed equivalentto what has been done on the othersalmon rivers in Washington County.

Now, with the opening of the East

Machias Aquatic Research Center andour new Fall Parr Project, there hasbeen a significant increase in interestin a watershed wide, multispeciesrestoration program involving a broadspectrum of agencies, NGOs and thetowns. Due to the unique biologicalresources, the scale of the watershed,and the infrastructure in place, theparties involved have realized that theEast Machias presents a unique op-portunity.

Over the past 20 years a few thingshave risen to the top in terms of caus-es for the decline of salmon and otheranadromous species (spawns in fresh-water but spends a portion of its lifein the ocean). The lack of connectivi-ty (caused by man made obstructions,dams, culverts,) changes in the physi-cal structure of the river channel,remnant log drive dams, lack of largewood structure in the river, warmingof the river and changes in the chem-

istry of the river have all lead to thedecline of salmon, trout and othernative species. Over the last 10years, we and our partners havelearned a lot about the physical habi-tat limitations we are facing and de-veloped and refined techniques toaddress them. We believe that if wefocus our efforts in the East Machiaswatershed and address physical habi-tat see RESTORATION pg 7

An Unprecedentedapproach to river

restoration

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Remember the old Godfrey camp at the Wig-wams rapid on the Machias? This summer DSFgot together with the Cobscook CommunityLearning Center to run a youth outdoor career

program there! From July 5th

to 19th

a crew of12 teens fixed up the camp, put in a newcampsite, did habitat restoration and helped onan archaeological dig at the Wigwams.

The seed for this program came from theWashington County Tax Increment Financing(TIF) program that makes grants and loans inthe unorganized townships. This particularstream of funding was set aside for nature-based tourism so we designed a program toimprove the camp, tent sites and fish habitat aswell as train the next generation of guides,biologists, and conservation crew leaders. Wewanted to increase the depth of our youth pro-gramming to include extended outdoor experi-ences that make land users into lifelong landstewards. However, the Downeast SalmonFederation is not a summer camp and we didnot have the infrastructure to run such a pro-gram by ourselves. Thats why we asked theCobscook Community Learning Center(CCLC) to be a partner. TheCCLC runs enrichment program-ming for all ages including an out-ing club for youth and an alterna-tive high school program featuringwilderness expeditions, and theyhave wanted to increase their sum-mer programming, especially inthe outdoors. Together, we hadwhat we needed to make this pilota great success.

We started the two weeks byclearing out a campsite area thatwe moved into. After a hot day

Machias River wigwams

program

hiking Tunk Mountain the archaeolo-gy team from UMaine Orono and thePassamaquoddy Tribe arrived. Underthe direction of Brian Robinson(archaeologist) and Donald Soctomah(Passamaquoddy Tribal Historian) ourcrew members dug up soil from thedisturbed and eroding bank, and sifted

it to find artifacts. After the excava-tion was complete, the teens rebuiltthe river bank with a more gentleslope to curb erosion. We took aquick weekend canoe trip on the Ma-chias and paddled back home to theGodfrey camp. The second week ofthe program we hiked in to sites onthe Crooked River and PembrokeStream to restore damage done fromhistoric log drives. Using cables,straps and grip hoists we moved boul-

ders and pulled down trees to providehabitat complexity, redistribute sedi-ment and provide refugia for salmon,trout and other native species.

Of course, we were not working thewhole time, and we found lots ofways to enjoy our stay at the wig-wams despite the voracious bugs.Calling this program Machias RiverEating Camp would not have been astretch as we had fresh bread-on-a-stick over the campfire, wilderness

lasagna and two versions of home-made brownies. Countless rounds ofpoker were played and we even wentswimming in a FREEZING coldspring. Keep on the lookout for infor-mation about next years WigwamsProgram it was such a success wedefinitely want to run it again!

A group shot of all the Wigwams participants,

cooking a meal on the campfire

Participants of the Wigwams Program help uncover arti-facts in an archaeological dig at the Wigwams camp.

Each spring the birds and seals con-gregate along the lower East MachiasRiver. The alewives attract humansand wildlife alike, and there appears

to be plenty of food for all. As theadult alewives return from the sea tospawn in the many lakes and ponds inthe East Machias watershed, they passthrough a gauntlet of seals, cormo-rants, gulls, osprey and eagles. OnChases Mill Stream (tributary to thelower East Machias) there is a fishladder where four days a week thehumans get a chance to harvest someof the fish as well. So whether ale-wives are food or bait, raw or

smoked, there appears to be plenty togo around.Meanwhile, further south in the

alewives range, the numbers ofadults returning to spawn has signifi-cantly declined, and while we under-stand many of the factors that havelead to the decline, such as overfish-ing, dams, and habitat destruction,there are factors that we do not un-derstand. In Connecticut and Massa-chusetts over the past ten years many

of the runs have shown significantdeclines, while several of the healthyruns in Maine have continued to dowell. In the East Machias watershedwe have a unique opportunity to ex-plore why this alewife run has contin-ued to do well compared to otherrivers in the region. We can alsoexplore what can be done to ensureits sustainability and through bestmanagement practices restore the runclose to historic levels. The East Ma-chias River could be a model for ale-wife conservation and restoration,just as we hope it will be for the othermigratory fish such as Atlantic salm-on.

While the East Machias River hasone of the biggest alewife runs in thestate, the population is still well be-low historic levels and there is verylittle information about the actual sizeof se e ALEWIVES pg 7

Alewife run remains

strong in the East

Machias river

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limitations and change our rearingtechniques and stocking strategy, wecan make a real difference.

If we replace traditional round cul-verts that block the flow of water,nutrients, and sediment downstream

and block the movement of fish up-stream, with open bottom arch cul-verts, we can significantly increasethe quality and quantity of habitatavailable to salmon, trout and ale-wives. If we pull trees down into theriver, we can increase the complexityof the habitat, narrow the river chan-nel, (which is over widened from 200years of log driving) and the riverwill begin to clean sediment from thegravel and run deeper and cooler. Ifwe add clam shells to more acidictributaries that have suffered from100 years of acid rain we can reducestress on fish and increase theirgrowth and survival. If we add salm-on or lamprey analogs (pasteurizedfish carcasses) we can jump start theproductivity in the system. Much ofthe productivity of these systems hasbeen lost with the decline of theanadromous species (that bring nutri-ents from the ocean) and acid rainand land use activities that have ex-ported nutrients from the system.

With the replacing of culverts, the removal ofremnant log driving dams and the narrowing ofthe channel from large wood addition weshould also see a reduction in water tempera-ture. If we can do these things on a watershedscale and then stock a good quality, fit salmoninto the system, we could begin to see a realturn around in the salmon population and the

entire anadromous fishcommunity, with sig-nificant benefits to thehuman community.

As far as we know thishas not been done onthis scale anywhere inthe U.S.. Our goal, inthe next 5-7 years, is toraise 5-7 million dollarsto implement this con-cept in the East Machi-

as watershed. The factthat this watershed stillhas wild Atlantic salm-on, a good brook troutpopulation and one ofthe largest runs of ale-wives in New Englandillustrates the unique-ness of the system. The

system is big enough to support these uniquepopulations, but small enough to be managea-ble. Where the river meets the sea we have a

state of the art hatchery, visitors center andeducation and meeting facility to anchor theproject and provide the quality salmon to stockthe river. This project has pulled together anamazing group of partners uniquely positionedto make this happen. The Atlantic Salmon Fed-eration and the North Atlantic Salmon Fundhave partnered with us providing significantfunding and technical expertise (Peter Gray) forthe hatchery component of the project. The USFish and Wildlife Service Craig Brook NationalFish Hatchery has provided eggs and technicaladvice for the hatchery program as well as sup-port for habitat assessment. Maine Departmentof Marine Resources Sea Run Fisheries andHabitat Division has provided invaluable sup-port for population and habitat assessment.NOAA Fisheries provided our smolt traps andconsultation on smolt trapping and populationassessment. Project SHARE has provided mostof the on the ground support for physical habi-tat restoration, being the leader in the region inarch culvert installation, large wood addition,

the run, population trends, etcThere is commercial harvesting which

provides some abundance estimatesand scale samples (which can be usedto assess the health of the run). How-ever, harvesting only occurs onChases Mill Stream, one tributary inthe lower river, which drains one ofthe larger lakes in the watershed. Inorder to begin looking into why thepopulation has remained strong, andwhat can be done to increase the runcloser to historic levels, the DSFhopes to begin a project to assess the

size of the population. At the sametime, the DSF will work with thetown to create a watershed wide ale-wife management plan. The hope isthat the East Machias alewife manage-ment plan could be a model for bestmanagement practices across the re-gion.

A habitat restoration project on Northern Stream, a tributary to the

East Machias River. Wood was placed in the stream to improve the

habitat for native fish.

Restoration cont...and remnant dam removal.

All of the hard work has been done.The basic infrastructure is in place andmost of the pre-assessment has beendone. There is a solid groupof partners and the hatchery programis in year two. All that remains is toraise the additional funds necessary to

implement the projects. Please let usknow if you can help move this visionforward.

Alewives cont...

Alewives harvested at the dam on

Gardner Lake. The DSF hopes to

gain more data on the entire East

Machias run of alewives and develop

a watershed wide management plan

for alewives and their habitat.

To learn more about alewives, visit our

blog at www.emarcparr.wordpress.com

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Back in 1995, one of the best alewiferuns in the state was shut off due toconcerns of regional guides that thealewives (native to the watershed)were hurting the (non-native) small-

mouth bass. Since that time, manygroups and individuals have workedlong and hard to open the gates backup on the St. Croix River to allow thealewives to return. In 2013 all of thehard work paid off and the alewives,once again, are running up the St.Croix River to spawn as they havedone for thousands of years. We lookforward to watching the numbersincrease each year and collaboratingwith others on this project to con-serve and restore alewife runsthroughout the state.

Alewives return to the

St. Croix

Last year the DSF had a smoke housebuilt at the EMARC building. Webegan smoking whole alewives, orbloaters, to offer to the communityin an effort to bring back the tradi-tion of smoking alewives in thespring as they make their way upriver to spawn. We have attracted a

lot of attention, especially from thosewith childhood memories of prepar-ing and eating these tasty morsels.However, some just cant get overthe fact that anyone would eat awhole smoked fish, especially onewith a name like bloater! If you canget past the name and their appear-ance, they are down right delicious!Brined for 24 hours and set to smokefor up to 48 hours they have a won-derful salty, smoky taste that can be

enjoyed as-is, or used as an ingredi-ent in any number of salads, dips,sides or main course dishes. If youcant quite picture how you woulduse a bloater to enliven your nextdinner adventure, here are a coupleideas to help. Oh, and if you cantfind any bloaters in your local gro-cery store, come on down toEMARC. We smoked over 900 thisspring and have plenty for the tak-ing!

Cooking with

bloaters!!

Recipes:

There are a couple ways to do it.Because bloaters are not fully cooked,or hard smoked, they must becooked before consuming. Theycan be baked in the oven, covered intin-foil, for about 20 mins at 350, orgrilled until cooked through (I recom-

mend the grilling option as they havea strong smoky smell when you bakethem). From here you can do a cou-ple things, you can eat it as is, or youcan peel skin off and flake off the fleshaway from the bones. These fishflakes make a fantastic appetizer,served with crackers and some horse-radish sauce you cannot go wrong!You can also blend in food processorto blend the smallest bones. Thisblended fish is great to add to dips or

make fish pastes out of.

Bloater Dip:

For a quick and easy dip, add blendedbloater to sour cream (about 2 Tbspsour cream for every cup of fish), addsalt to taste (remember, bloaters arealready salty!)

If you want to spruce it up a little,add 1Tbsp mayo, hot sauce to taste,

and some Worcestershire sauce totaste.

Bloater Caesar Salad:

Ingredients: 1 Caesar salad, 1 bloater.

Flake the flesh off of one cookedbloater and add it to a Caesar salad, orany other salad really, and enjoy!

Classic Bloater Paste:Ingredients: 2 bloaters, unsalted but-ter, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper.

Flake the flesh off of 2 bloaters andblend it in a food processor addingbutter that equals the weight of fishused (3oz fish would call for 3oz but-ter.) Add lemon juice and cayennepepper to taste. This paste is tradi-tionally used as a spread for toast.

Bloaters before (above) and after (below) smoking for48 hours.

If you are interested in the alewife smoking process,

want to help, or have a bloater or alewife story, come

visit in early May, chances are we will have plenty of

bloaters going. And stop by EMARC anytime to getsome free of charge (as always, donations are wel-

come!)

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THE DSF / DRLT MISSION:

To conserve wild Atlantic salmon and its habitat, restore a viable sports fishery and pro-

tect other important river, scenic, recreational and ecological resources in eastern Maine.

P.O. Box 201187 Main St.

Columbia Falls ME 04623

Phone: (207) 483-4336Fax: (207) 483-6057

Email:info@mainesalmonrivers.orgwww.mainesalmonrivers.org

Dwayne ShawExecutive Director

Jacob van de SandeOutreach Educator

Tracy ShawAdministrative Assistant/Membership Coordinator

Kyle WinslowFisheries/Hatchery Technician

Maria McMorrowIsland Institute Intern

DSF Membership / Fund DriveYour membership not only helps us to keep the lights on, it alsoprovides proof of community support when we apply for grants!Please consider becoming a member, renewing your membershipgiving a gift membership or making an additional gift to support anyof our current projects.

Things have been very busy for ushere at the Downeast Salmon Federa-tion. It is hard to imagine how wecould get everything done withoutthe help of the many interns whocome to work with us everyyear. Early this year we were verythankful to have Dan Bassett workwith us. Dan, with his photographyand journalism skills, helped to tellthe story of Downeast Maine andhow it relates to the Downeast Salm-on Federation. He started the movieseries at EMARC, which we will becontinuing as it has been great for thecommunity and the DSF. We hadhad two interns working with usfrom the University of Maine at Ma-

chias this spring, Matt Leegwater andTravis Ouhl. These two studentswere very helpful in getting the

hatchery at EMARC running this spring, pre-paring substrate incubation boxes, plumb-ing our new tanks, picking over eggs and, ofcourse, plenty of cleaning. They also helped uswith our substrate incubation box study at ourhatchery in Columbia Falls. Matt did a very nicewrite up, which he summarized for the articlein this newsletter. Travis has continued volun-

teering at EMARC outside of his internship,which has been extremely helpful. LauranMetcalf and her fianc Jacob Layne came fromMissouri to gain experience in fish biology.They worked at a wide variety of tasks at DSFfrom Land trust, to membership, and events, tohatchery related tasks at EMARC to helping theDEP put clamshells into rivers and streams aspart of their study to buffer acidicstreams. Their great attitude and sense of hu-mor was a fine addition to their hardwork. Bob Sheffer of California is visiting fami-

ly in the area and has been volunteering almostdaily at EMARC, helping with daily hatcherytasks. Bob wants to work at a hatchery after

graduating from California State atLong Beach. We could not accom-plish everything we do without thehelp of our interns and volun-teers. We are extremely gratefuland wish them all the best as theycontinue their journey! Contact usif you want a chance to volun-

teer! Whether you are a studentand are looking for an internship orjust want to volunteer your time,there is a variety of work to bedone; from land stewardship work,to hatchery work, there is even aneed for someone to man the visi-tors center a couple days a weekduring our regular hours. Thework is rewarding, fun and educa-tional. So come by and visit or con-tact us if you would like any more

information about volunteering,without the help from volunteers,none of this would be possible!

A big thanks to our in-

terns and volunteers!

Lauran and Jacob, DSF interns, assist in culvert surveys. An internship offers a great, real-

world, educational opportunity-not to mention a great way to see some of the natural beauty

of Downeast Maine.

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2013 Calendar of dsf/emarc events

August-September: Pokey Dam fishwayrepair begins. Phase III construction atEMARC begins.

September: Electrofish to assess parrreleased last fall.

September 18-19: Presentation at theAtlantic Salmon Recovery Workshop,St. Andrews, NB.

October: Fin clipping all 90,000 parr!Contact us if you want to help, we will

take all the help we can get!November: Stocking all 90,000 parr!Contact us if you want to help, we willtake all the help we can get!

November-December: Counting salm-on redds (nests). Preparing the hatch-ery at EMARC for our next round offish.

East Machias River on a warm spring afternoon

East Machias River just below rt. 9, Wesley.

DowneastSalmonFederation

POBox201

ColumbiaFalls,ME04623