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


Spawning habitat: percent stream distance

Casco Bay Kennebec

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

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


Spawning habitat: percent lake area

Casco Bay Kennebec

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

1754, 1760, 17924.8%

1762 3%


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


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


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


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

Documents

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