Peter Gray Hatchery Report
October to Mid-November
2017
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My friends, first let me apologize for my delay in getting this report out to you. The past month and a half has been a whirlwind of salmon activity. I was thinking we would give you a report on October's activities and November's to this point. You can expect another
Hatchery Report
that will cover mid-November thru December sometime before the Christmas holiday. Please also note the hyperlinks throughout this hatchery report. They will take you to our website for more information on that particular topic. For example, if you'd like to help keep the Peter Gray Parr Project going well into the future you can click here to
donate
...every dollar makes a difference!
October has to be one of the busiest months for the
Peter Gray Project
. That's because it is filled with marking every single fish with an adipose
fin clip
and stocking our "
little athletes
" into the river!
As you remember from previous hatchery reports, Downeast Maine had quite a drought for the second summer in a row. Water levels were extremely low and the temperature stayed warm late into the fall. The combination of these two things delayed the start of fin clipping by a week. However, in the beginning of October we received some cold evenings and we were able to start clipping. Thanks to help from hundreds of local students, community members, and partners of the
Peter Gray Parr Project
volunteering hundreds of hours of time, we clipped just over 200,000 Atlantic salmon in about two and a half weeks. A thank you also to our small dedicated crew of fin clip employees.
For those that are new, we clip the adipose fin off each one of our fish. The goal of this activity is to distinguish salmon stocked from the Peter Gray Hatchery from wild salmon in the river during future assessment (
electrofishing
and
smolt trapping
). This allows us to know the precise impact our unique rearing and stocking strategies have on the total salmon population for the East Machias River.
During those weeks of fin clipping we still didn't receive any rain. Our pre-stocking scouting revealed record low tributaries and little water to stock fish. Then, thankfully, the heavens opened up and we received a couple rainstorms of a few inches each within a week or so of each other. We went from no water to plenty of water to
stock
the fish!
We had some help from the University of Maine at Machias, Washington Academy, our intern Ally, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and some other volunteers to release our salmon throughout the East Machias River watershed. The US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery also lent us a couple stocking trucks as they do every year. We couldn't complete this culminating step of the
Project
without all that help.
The last "little athlete" reared at the Peter Gray Hatchery in 2017 was stocked on November 3rd. Now they can live in the wild and hopefully we'll see them over the next three years as smolt and eventually returning as adults.
After stocking was completed we started
redd counting
. This is where we walk or stand up in a canoe and pole down the spawning shoals of the river looking for redds the adult female salmon have made. This number helps generate the estimate for adult returns to the East Machias River.
So far this year we have counted 3 redds in Northern Stream and 1 redd in the mainstem of the river. We will continue to redd count through November until the rivers ice in. Stay tuned!
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Expansion
Architectural plans - Done
Excavation - Done
Frost walls - Done
Waste water trench - Done
Slab - Done
Oxygen slab - Done
Hatchery building - STARTED!
That's not your eyes playing tricks on you, that's the walls of our hatchery expansion going up! This is good news and our contractors are on a mission to get this building up and weather tight before snow flies.
"Winter is a season of recovery and preparation." --Paul Theroux
As I've mentioned in previous reports, this expansion will allow the salmon growing in the
Peter Gray Hatchery
to be spread out into more tanks. Decreasing the densities in each tank will help lower the stress of the salmon and give them an even better environment to develop into the "little athletes" that will survive in the East Machias River, and later, the Atlantic Ocean. Lean, mean swimming machines!
Funders have generously
donated
to get us started, but we are continuing to raise funds for the expansion project to ensure it is completed this year. If you would like to contribute to this very important project please visit
here
.
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As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. I hope this report finds you well and you enjoyed reading about the
Peter Gray Parr Project
. Thank you for all you have done, and continue to do, in the pursuit of Atlantic salmon restoration!
Regards,
Zach Sheller
Hatchery Manager
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There is a short Parr Project video on our website
HERE.
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DONATE TODAY!
If you believe in the importance of restoring Atlantic salmon to our U.S. rivers, then please consider making a gift to the Peter Gray Parr Project for 2017. We will be continuing our work to restore salmon to Downeast Maine and would appreciate your help! Click
HERE
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Leave a Legacy by Making a Planned Gift to DSF
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A planned gift to Downeast Salmon Federation is a wonderful way to contribute to the health of our rivers and fisheries for future generations while also meeting your financial goals. You can create a legacy gift that will help DSF continue to improve river ecology, restore Atlantic salmon populations, increase fish passage, run educational programs, and much more. Click on the link below for more information about planned giving.
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Wild Atlantic salmon numbers in the U.S. have been at a record low, but DSF is working to bring them back. Please support our work by
becoming a member
of the Downeast Salmon Federation. Together, we can restore sea-run fisheries in Maine.
Downeast Salmon Federation
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www.wildatlanticsalmon.org
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