Latest Penobscot River Stories

Wild Atlantic salmon returns to Maine's Penobscot River are the lowest they have been since the year 2000 and only 20% of what they were in 2011, according to the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) St. Andrews, NB, Canada (PRWEB) August 29, 2012 Wild Atlantic salmon returns to North America are disappointingly low this year, especially in the rivers of Maine. The Penobscot River, which is undergoing a major restoration program, had only 609 salmon return from their ocean migration by...

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) welcomed NASCO's decision to continue a moratorium on commercial salmon fishing at Greenland, where salmon from North America’s east coast rivers migrate to over-winter and feed. St. Andrews, NB, Canada (PRWEB) June 12, 2012 The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) welcomed the decision of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) at last week’s meeting in Edinburgh to continue a moratorium on commercial salmon fishing at...

Family fun in the sun shines bright this summer with kids’ half-price whitewater rafting on Maine's Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers with Northern Outdoors - Maine's premier Adventure Resort and pioneer of Maine rafting since 1976. The Forks, ME (PRWEB) May 22, 2012 Kennebec and Penobscot River Summer Kids Half-Price Rafting is big value and huge fun with Northern Outdoors. Crafting affordable active family getaways, Northern Outdoors is the only Maine outfitter to offer...

By JONI AVERILL Cherryfield Academy is a "nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration of the Academy building," wrote Nancy Willey in announcing Cherryfield Academy's Harvest Festival. That event is 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at the academy, and features activities for folks of all ages. Children's activities include a science room, games, face painting and prizes, and you can purchase food ranging from chili to desserts. Area business owners and friends have donated items...

By KEVIN MILLER; OF THE NEWS STAFF WINTERPORT - Part of a small but ecologically important tributary of the Penobscot River is getting a face-lift this week, and the results should benefit both the stream's aquatic inhabitants and residents of Winterport. Each spring and after heavy rains throughout the year, the tiny and meandering stream known as Cove Brook overwhelms a culvert that runs beneath Meadow Road in Winterport. Occasionally, the waters actually push the culvert downstream,...

By KEVIN MILLER; OF THE NEWS STAFF In fall 2000, state officials and some of Maine's business leaders were up in arms about a federal decision to list Atlantic salmon in eight Maine rivers as endangered species. Critics predicted the designation could devastate an already weakened economy in Down East Maine by restricting blueberry growers' water use, overregulating commercial forestry and forcing aquaculture operations out of business. Eight years later, loggers are still working...

By JOHN HOLYOKE When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a proposal to include the Atlantic salmon in three large Maine rivers under federal Endangered Species Act protection, I expected Mainers would react to the news. The targeted rivers - the Androscoggin, the Kennebec and the Penobscot - are among our state's most fabled, and the salmon clubs of Greater Bangor are historically significant as well. Seeing as how we're reaching the end of a banner year of salmon...

By JOHN RICHARDSON In 1999, a federal proposal to declare the Atlantic salmon in eight Down East rivers an endangered species sparked an outcry and prolonged challenge by the governor, the state's congressional delegation and several Maine industries. What a difference nine years make. Earlier this month, a proposal to extend the same federal protection to salmon in three much bigger rivers - the Penobscot, the Kennebec and the Androscoggin - got a far different response. "We need...

For a long while, our displeasure at the second-class treatment of the Androscoggin River, versus the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, regarding the restoration of the river's habitat, has been apparent. Now, here comes the federal government - namely the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - proposing endangered species status for Atlantic salmon that used to swim in great numbers in the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot rivers. Let's...

By Scott Thistle and Terry Karkos LEWISTON - There's a simple reason the stream near the Lewiston- Lisbon town line is named Salmon Brook. "They were here," John Ponte said. "They didn't name these places without reason." Ponte, an Auburn native and longtime member of Trout Unlimited, was among the fish and river experts in Maine trying to digest the latest proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On Tuesday, the service announced it wants to expand its endangered species listing for...