Reopening one dam for alewives recommended

The legislature's Marine Resources Committee held an unexpected work session this week to reconsider its recommendation on a bill to restore the alewife run on the St. Croix River. On March 5, the committee had voted in favor of amending the bill to allow for the re-opening of the Woodland Dam for the passage of alewives this season but not for the re-opening of the Grand Falls Dam. The original bill called for the opening of both dams this year. The committee's majority report called for a memorandum of agreement among the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W) and the Passamaquoddy Tribe to develop a joint management arrangement for alewives if they were to be allowed past the Grand Falls Dam and report back to the legislature in four years.

On Monday, March 10, the committee reconsidered the bill in a work session after some members of the committee voiced concerns about the majority report, according to Senator Dennis Damon of Trenton, the Senate chairman of the committee. State Senator Kevin Raye of Perry says that lobbyists who favored opening up both dams for passage of alewives wanted the memorandum of agreement to include just the two state agencies and have them only consult with the tribe. He notes that both agencies favor opening the entire river, while the tribal government has not supported that position. Passamaquoddy Governor William Nicholas of Indian Township was tipped off about the impromptu work session and was able to make the session just in time, according to Raye.

The committee ended up voting out a new majority report that calls for opening up the Woodland Dam by May 1, 2008. The committee would send a letter to the DMR, DIF&W and the Passamaquoddy Joint Tribal Council urging them to work together to collect data on whether alewives historically had gone into the river beyond Grand Falls and to develop management strategies if alewives are allowed to pass beyond the Grand Falls Dam, according to Senator Damon. The letter would not have the effect of law, though. DMR and DIF&W would report back annually to the legislature on the issue.

Raye notes that while there is scientific and historical evidence that alewives got past the location of the Woodland Dam, there is disagreement over whether they got past Grand Falls, as it would present a natural barrier to alewives. Raye says the majority report is a victory for those who fear the possible negative impact of alewives in the upper St. Croix.

The original bill would overturn a 1995 law that prevents the passage of alewives at the two dams. The closing of the river came at the request of fishing guides in Washington County who believe that alewives caused the collapse of Spednic Lake's smallmouth bass populations in the 1980s. A recent study commissioned by Maine Rivers indicates that smallmouth bass and alewives can co-exist. According to John Burrows of the Atlantic Salmon Federation in Brunswick, the St. Croix watershed historically supported Maine's largest population of alewives, a run that once numbered as high as 20 million before they were over-fished and the river was dammed two centuries ago. As recently as 1987, more than 2.5 million alewives returned to the St. Croix. With the passage of the 1995 law, the population crashed, falling to only 1,300 fish in 2007.