Alewife allies swim upstream

Alewives may be a few steps closer to gaining access to their ancestral grounds in the St. Croix River, but the path to that access may not happen fast enough, say Passamaquoddy tribal members Vera Francis and Edward Bassett. The two were part of the audience attending the 2012 annual meeting of the International St. Croix River Watershed Board of the International Joint Commission (IJC) held on June 6 in Calais.
The alewives have been blocked for too many years, Francis said. "I will support you 100% if you do good work, but I will challenge you 100% if you don't do good work," she told the board members.
The IJC was formed as a part of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty signed by the U.S. and Canada to prevent and resolve disputes over shared waters, as well as to settle any transboundary issues. The IJC also acts to study and recommend solutions to transboundary issues upon the request of the national governments. Board members are from both countries.
"We really want to see the alewives in the river," said board Co‑chair Bill Appleby in an interview. "By 2013 we hope we're farther on. We've made small steps C one dam is open. We'll see the effects of that in about four years. We're taking some baby steps, but I'd like to see us take a giant step."
At the heart of the Passamaquoddy tribal members' concern is new information about stock declines made known as part of the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) consideration of a petition to list the alewife and the blueback herring under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Tara Trinko Lake, a staff member of NMFS, was on hand at the annual meeting to discuss how the petition process works. She explained that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's study of stock assessment showed the alewife and blueback herring populations were in decline in 23 out of 25 rivers, not including the St. Croix. NMFS responded to the petition in November 2011 with the first step in the process that the listing may be warranted. A five‑step process is used to determine the status of the populations with three focus group meetings to take place in June and July. One of three outcomes will occur: a listing as endangered or threatened or a finding that listing under the ESA is not warranted.
The sea‑run alewife, known as gaspereau in New Brunswick, is a native fish to the region. It plays a role in the food chain of freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the St. Croix basin. It requires upstream access to spawn, and according to an IJC report issued in 2010, the restrictions on its passage, in place since 1987 to protect the smallmouth bass population in the lakes above Grand Falls dam, have reduced the alewife in the basin to numbers that are not self‑sustaining. While a small amount of habitat was reopened to alewives in 2008, they are still limited to less than two percent of their natural habitat.
The smallmouth bass were introduced to the region for sport fishing in the 19th century. Bassett said, "A solution without endangering the smallmouth bass -- from many tribal members' perspectives the bass fishing has endangered indigenous fish. ...It's kind of upside down. We should be thinking of a solution that's not endangering the alewives and salmon. I mention that because it is a mindset, a language we fall into if we use it enough -- a system that's wreaked havoc."
At an IJC meeting held in Princeton in 2010, many guides and others involved in businesses created around bass fishing were vocal in their concern about bass declines if the alewives were allowed access to their original grounds. The IJC has facilitated a number of studies over the years, including ongoing studies that show that a decline in the bass populations many years ago once attributed to the alewives was in fact caused by other factors. That bass decline was the impetus behind Maine legislation restricting alewife access on the St. Croix.
In an interview, Lake explained that if the species are listed as endangered, then any type of "take" would be illegal. State legislation would need to be amended to reflect that change. The IJC "would have to consider that new listing when working on watersheds," she noted. Dam owners would be responsible for allowing passage of the alewives up the river. "It would be a unique situation. Hopefully the IJC would be able to work with it."
Watershed board Co-chair Appleby commented, "The listing would make a difference for us." He added that, looking at the future actions of the IJC over the next year, he hoped that it could bring pressure on governments in Canada and the United States to change some of the legal restrictions on alewife access and provide help at the federal levels.
While wanting the alewives to return to their ancestral grounds, an endangered listing could threaten an important food source, Bassett explained. The alewives have been a source of food for the tribe for thousands of years. He noted that the treaty signed between the Passamaquoddy and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1794 has language recognizing the tribe's inherent right as a sovereign nation to travel, hunt and fish in the St. Croix River and on its islands. "That's an important part of the deliberation," he told the board.
"We have seen changes in the river over 400 years, but we are hopeful it is going in the right direction. ... The fish have been waiting." Bassett added, "The time is now to do what this board said it would do, which is 'what's right for the watershed.'"
Lake encouraged Francis, Bassett and Hugh Akagi, chief of the St. Croix Schoodic Band of the Passamaquoddy, to share Passamaquoddy cultural information about the alewives with the NMFS.
Information about the IJC St. Croix Watershed Board's work on the St. Croix watershed and alewives may be found at <www.ijc.org>.