Opinion: Rethinking Penobscot Restoration

MAINE—Last summer, Trout Unlimited and its Penobscot River Restoration Trust partners raised $25 million to purchase three dams on the Penobscot River in order to restore more than 1,000 miles of anadromous Atlantic salmon habitat. In his in-depth piece, Bangor Daily News guest columnist and flyfisher, Joe Bertolaccini, argues the value of the expenditure vs. “big picture” priorities such as clean, renewable, nonpolluting energy resources.  

Bertolaccini writes, “We should maximize development of hydropower and not settle for the ‘no net loss’ scenario. This obviously would be accomplished by keeping all of our presently functioning hydropower dams on the Penobscot River as well as adding capacity to the Enfield dam and all others where practical.

“Second, there is little guarantee that opening more rivers and streams to anadromous species will result in any increase in numbers of Atlantic salmon, striped bass, shad, alewives, etc. These fish have drastically diminished over the years in spite of efforts to remove dams and improve water quality and habitat.”

TU says: “…the Penobscot holds the state’s largest population of Atlantic salmon, with annual salmon runs estimated at 50,000-70,000 prior to 1830. This year, over 2,000 salmon have returned to the Penobscot, more than 90% of the total population that returned to Maine’s rivers. The Penobscot River is the engine of Atlantic salmon production in New England and the best opportunity to prevent their disappearance in the United States.

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