Operational Plan for the Restoration of Diadromous Fishes to the ...

6.1 Restore alewife populations to Phase 1 historical lakes in 16 years or less
beginning in 2010 or 2011.
Alewife runs in lakes located above the Veazie Dam are considered extirpated,
because of the presence of lake outlet dams 11 without fish passage, and ineffective
passage for this species at Veazie and Great Works dams. DMR proposes to
restore these runs by stocking six adults per surface acre, which has proven to be
successful at many other locations in the state. Thirteen Phase 1 lakes have been
selected initially for stocking because they 1) are close to sources of broodstock so
travel is minimized, 2) have the smallest number of downstream hydropower dams
so adult and juvenile mortality is reduced, 3) are blocked by the smallest number of
nonhydropower dams so cost of improving upstream passage is minimized, 4) will
allow testing of upstream and downstream passage efficiency at Milford, West
Enfield, Howland, and Lowell Tannery within five years, and 5) will generate large
runs that can be captured at Milford and serve as broodstock for restoring the
remaining lakes. Chemo Pond, which is below Milford, is also on the list for stocking
because fish passage will be completed in 2009, prior to dam removals.
6.1.1 Assess availability and sufficiency of in-basin or nearest out-of-basin
sources of broodstock.
Approximately 97,500 adult alewife will need to be stocked annually in Phase 1
lakes until returns are considered to be self-sustaining. The source of fish that will
be used to stock these lakes has not yet been determined (Table 3) . DMR, NOAA,
and USFWS will assess potential sources of broodstock based on the following
criteria: 1) geographical proximity to historic habitat; 2) ability to provide 97,500
adult alewife annually for up to 16 years without harm to the donor population; 3)
facility for capturing, holding, and sorting broodstock; 4) availability of staff and
equipment to transport and stock fish; and 5) costs and/or conflicts associated with
existing resource users. With regard to geographical proximity, priority will be
placed on using in-basin broodstock; other sources will be considered following the
“next-nearest-neighbor” concept. A single, large donor stock capable of providing
97,500 fish without impacting its long-term viability is preferred for logistical reasons.
A facility where broodstock can be safely captured, sorted, and held for short periods
of time will be necessary, and it will need to be operational no later than May 1,
2011. DMR currently does not have available staff and equipment that can be
dedicated to alewife stocking in the Penobscot drainage. However, biologists
dedicated to the Kennebec and Androscoggin restoration projects regularly stock
alewife from these watersheds into out-of-basin habitat; with a modest amount of
additional funding, alewife from the Kennebec and/or Androscoggin rivers could be
used to stock Phase 1 lakes in the Penobscot. If the agency assessment of sources
of broodstock results in selection of a run that is commercially harvested, the
municipality with rights to the run should be reimbursed for lost revenue.
Continued analysis of the availability and feasibility of sources of broodstock will be
conducted by DMR (Wippelhauser, Gray, Zink), NOAA (Saunders, Bernier), and
11 Nonhydropower dams.
PRFP Page 18