Dear Friends of
DSF
and the “
Cold Coast
”,
As you receive this letter — and as we come upon the Winter Solstice — the coastal streams and rivers in eastern Maine are coming alive again with migratory fish, even in this darkest of seasons!
The surge of sea-run fish moving to their spawning habitat at this time of year are tomcod (
Microgadus
tomcod
), also known as frostfish. These purple-brown fish swim at night under the “making ice” and up the rivers and streams to their freshwater spawning grounds.
This phenomenon, the winter spawning of an anadromous codfish, is not well documented here or elsewhere in Maine — even though generations of coastal families have harvested them along this “Cold Coast” since the retreat of the glaciers some 8,500 years ago. Frostfish lore, fishing methods, their spawning grounds, and even frostfish recipes are rapidly being lost. DSF is documenting both the fish and the lore...
|
|
$60,000 Charlie Harriman Peter Gray Parr Project Matching Gift Challenge - Successfully Matched!
|
|
Long time DSF friend and supporter, Charlie Harriman, challenged DSF and all of our supporters to match his $60,000 gift. With the wonderful and generous support of you, our dedicated members, we were able to meet this challenge!
In fact, Charlie was so happy with the success of his recent Parr Project Matching Gift Challenge, that he has generously put up another $30,000.00 for a matching gift challenge!!
For the 2019 Peter Gray Parr Project Matching Gift Challenge every donation to the Peter Gray Parr Project will be matched 50% up to $30,000.00. Your $100 gift becomes a $150 donation to the Parr Project!
Thank you, Charlie, for your steadfast commitment to the Peter Gray Parr Project!
|
|
Peter Gray Hatchery Update
|
Ice, rain, and snow o my! Winter is upon us my friends. Some single digits temps hit us earlier then usual this year and you can see the result of that in the pictures of this update. Ice and snow lined streams and rivers.
The good thing about receiving ample rain going into winter is the rivers don't freeze over as fast (or sometimes at all). This provides more habitat for our salmon friends to spread out and overwinter. We tend to observe better survival to the smolt life stage in winters where we have open flowing water. That's not to say that snow is all bad. Having a deep, slow melting snow pack in the woods going into spring can provide a steady supply of cold water to the streams and rivers into June.
Speaking of the rivers and the woods, we have found a few more
redds
to add to our total. The East Machias River is up to 10
redds
observed. This is still a partial count due to weather and river conditions preventing us from counting certain spawning habitats. There is also the beautiful fact that these are wild animals in a wild river; they will, and do, spawn throughout the watershed in places we may or may not see. It is good to remember this as we collect data. We strive to be as accurate and thorough as possible, but Mother Nature still has her secrets.
Redds
have been observed in a few places we haven't seen them before, which could potentially point to the adult salmon from the
Peter Gray Parr Project
returning to the areas of the watershed they were stocked 4 years ago. This is big stuff! Adult salmon returning and spawning on their own in the East Machias watershed is one of the goals of the PG Parr Project. It is important to note that one of the goals of the PG Parr Project was to stock "little athletes" (salmon from the Peter Gray Hatchery) throughout the watershed at higher densities then had been tried before, this is also referred to as drainage wide stocking.
Winter is also a time where we are busy getting our hatcheries ready for the eggs that will start arriving in January. As Paul Theroux said, "Winter is a season of recovery and preparation." We are always preparing for the coming rearing season and this year that includes getting the hatchery expansion ready to grow little athletes in 2019! Depending on a few variables we are expecting somewhere between 228,000 and 300,000 eyed eggs for our
Peter Gray Hatchery.
In the Pleasant River watershed we are anticipating
egg planting
around 120,000 eyed eggs in the spawning shoals of the upper Pleasant River with Maine DMR. As we have since 1990, we will also be rearing fry (now using Peter Gray's
substrate incubation box
design since 2012) at our
Pleasant River Hatchery
.
This is a beautiful time of year and we wish you all nothing but the happiest of Holidays from the Peter Gray Hatchery Managers, Zach and Rachel. See you in the new year.
If you are new to receiving these updates and would like to catch up on some you have missed, please visit our website
here
.
|
|
Salmon angling on the East Machias River (date unknown). The hydroelectric dam under the Rte. 1 bridge can be seen in the background. The dam is gone now and the Peter Gray Hatchery in-habitats the former powerhouse of the dam.
|
|
FLY TYING WORKSHOPS -
WINTER 2019 DATES ADDED!
DSF has partnered with
Maine Outdoor School
to offer several fly tying workshops. Come and join these fun and interactive workshops. Every participant will leave with their own hand-tied fly!
|
|
Fly Tying Workshop Schedule
- Thursday, January 10, 2019 - Jesup Memorial Library, 34 Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor. 6:00 PM -7:30 PM
- Monday, January 14, 2019 – Airline Brewing Company – Ellsworth, 173 Main Street, Ellsworth. 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
- Thursday, January 24, 2019 - Fogtown Brewing Company, 25 Pine Street, Ellsworth. 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
- Sunday, January 27, 2019 – Airline Brewing Company – Amherst, 22 Mill Lane, Amherst. 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
- Wednesday, February 6, 2019 - Women's Health Resource Library, 24 School Street, Milbridge. 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
- Monday, February 11, 2019 - The Pickled Wrinkle, 9 E Schoodic Drive, Birch Harbor. 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
RSVP not necessary!! Everyone is welcome!
|
|
These workshops are made possible by the generous support from the Belvedere Traditional Handcrafts Fund through Maine Community Foundation.
|
|
If you believe in a future of healthy rivers, abundant fisheries, and vibrant communities, consider giving to DSF. As a 501c3 nonprofit, we rely on donations from our members to improve river ecology, restore Atlantic salmon populations, increase fish passage, run educational programs, and advocate for the environmental health of our rivers and watersheds. Your gift is fully tax-deductible. We appreciate your support!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|