4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management

4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management

Carolyn J. HallHRF, 22 Oct 2012

Outline

• The historic influence of dams on diadromous fish habitat with a focus on river herring & hydrologic longitudinal connectivity. Landscape Ecology. Hall, Jordaan, & Frisk. 2011

• Centuries of anadromous forage fish loss: consequences for ecosystem connectivity and productivity. BioScience. Hall, Jordaan, & Frisk. 2012.

• TU: Status of diadromous fishes in coastal rivers, ME to VA. Part of final report to NFWF: Assessment of Atlantic Coast watersheds for river herring and diadromous fish conservation. Dauwalter et al. 2012.

• EDF: Northeast river herring organization survey. Part of larger RH study also looking at ocean fisheries

bycatch and stock assessments. Kritzer et al. In prep. Funded by NFWF

Landscape Ecology: Impact of dams on historical

river herring watersheds

of Maine

Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

“impassable dams … first principal cause of [river herring] decay” Charles Atkins, 1868

Dams in Maine over 300 years

• 1634: first dam in Maine• 1750: NE expansion• 1800s: logging industry• 1846: all RH rivers

dammed at head of tide

• 915 dams built by 1900• 20-fold increase in construction from 1750

Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

Spawning habitat: percent stream distance

Casco Bay Kennebec

1750: 90%1800: 50%1850: 25%

1750: 100%1800: 20%1850: 15%

Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

Spawning habitat: percent lake area

Casco Bay Kennebec

By 1800: < 5% virgin lake area remaining on all watersheds

1754, 1760, 17924.8%

1762 3%

Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

Habitat loss related to

harvest: 1800s watershed

percent contribution to

alewife fisheries

Damariscotta lake spawning area = 5.8% Penobscot (white) lake spawning area

Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

Lake Area in Maine Alewives Lost

BioScience: how to estimate loss of fish from lost spawning habitat?

Productivity: # fish per km2

Median value of adult alewives/area of lake:

20th century Damariscotta recruit data

(1949-1983) & harvest data (1949-2007)

State average of 5 watersheds: equal to

Damariscotta

Damariscotta Lake 18.9 km2

= 150,000 fish/km2

120,000 fish/km2

120,000 fish/km2

Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

Lost annual alewife production in Maine 1600 - 1900

Maine Estimates Total US Landings

Cumulative loss: 14 billion alewives (including recruits not harvested)

50 million/year

130 million/year

100 million/year

Total harvest loss:11.8 billion fish

Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

Lost juvenile forage base

The lost 14 billion was based on 4 yr old spawning recruits.What about lost 1-3 year olds?

Annual juvenile loss:

By 1750: 10 million

By 1800: 795 million

By 1850: 1.3 billion

Cumulative for 1750 - 1850

Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

Consequences for coastal ecosystems

Decline

Alewife

Blueback HerringPollution

Dams

Decline?

Atlantic Cod

principal coastal forage fishes

Striped bass

predators (and fisheries)

White hake

Alteration of Atlantic coast food-web

Extirpated cod & hake stocks

Diagram courtesy of Dr. Adrian JordaanCod & hake studies: Ted Ames 2004 & 2012

Trout Unlimited – collected dam information (partnered with TNC Aquatic Connectivity

study), historical & current migration data, & run counts for 9 diadromous fishes ME to VA

• Chance to collate/compare regional information• TU used these parameters along with habitat

conditions, weighting of diadromous fish species, future security of populations, etc. to calculate a conservation value and rank watersheds from ME to VA at the subwatershed scale. The conservation values were done twice: for river herring only and for 12 diadromous species (including hickory shad, striped bass, & brook trout).

Alewife historical and current migration per river

Blueback herring historical and current migration per river (no ME)

Recentrun

countsfor

diad. fishes

TU: River herring coastal distribution

EDF: River herring organization surveys – Government (state to municipal), Business, Non-profit,

Academic, Native American, Coalition/Association

Qs: What are organizations focused on? How are they similar? How are they connected?What new partnerships can/should be pursued?

2 SurveyMonkey surveys Maine: Sept 2010 to Jan 2011105 surveys sent, 60 responses = 57% response rate

NH, VT, MA, RI, CT: Feb 2011 to April 2011173 surveys sent, 87 responses = 50% response rate

Government, Non-profit, academic: most responsesBusiness: fewest responses

Maine

NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

• Education & outreach• Policy development

&/or advocacy• Field research &

monitoring• Environ protection,

restor, &/or mitigation• Litigation• Other

Organizations’ approaches to issues of concern:

Part 1: comparative org data analysis

Maine

NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

Primary interest served by org:

Ranked 1-3Ocean/coastal conserv, restor, &/or mngmntWtrshd/terristrial conserv, restor, &/or mngmntAquatic science/researchHist & cultural preservationCommercial fishingRecreational fishingOther active recreation (hunt, hike, boat)Natural history (e.g. birding)

Ocean conserv & mngmntWatershed conserv & mngmntHist & cultural preservationCommercial fishingRecreational fishingOther active recreation (hunt, hike, boat)Natural history (birding)Other

Maine

NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

• Green: unconcerned• Red: concerned but not planning

to become involved• Purple: Not active right now but

likely to become involved• Blue: Somewhat active• Orange: Very active

Org’s interest in & involvement with impacts on RH:

Fish passageWater qualityIn-stream & riparian habitatInvasive speciesDirected fishingBycatchOther (ME)Fish stocking/genetics (NH, etc.)

Part 2: organization network map - who works with or gets info from whom?

Maine organizations

only (draft)

Acknowledgements

• Adrian Jordaan & Michael G. Frisk, SoMAS, SBU• Dan Dauwalter & Jack Williams, Trout Unlimited• William Leavenworth & Karen Alexander, UNH• Edward P. Ames, Penobscot East Resource Center• Gail Wippelhauser & Tom Squiers, Maine DMR• Peter Steenstra, Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery• Maine State Archives• Maine Historical Society• Fogler Library, Special Collections, Univ. of Maine, Orono• Bangor Public Library, Local History/Special Collections• Funding:

– Mia J. Tegner Memorial Research Grant– NOAA research award– Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, Trout Unlimited research… Thank you