Peter Gray Hatchery Update

DSF's East Machias Facility that houses the Peter Gray Hatchery on a July morning

Part of the East Machias River's estuary just below the Peter Gray Hatchery. All the salmon smolts produced in the river as a result of the Peter Gray Parr Project head through this area on their way to the ocean. Rotary screw traps in the East Machias River catching Atlantic salmon smolts as they head to the Atlantic Ocean.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or midnight hours to each and everyone of you. Thank you once again for following along with the month-to-month happenings of the Peter Gray Parr Project . July is our hottest month here in Downeast Maine, which means it tends to have the highest water temperatures of our rearing season (January - November). During the last few weeks our afternoon temperatures are around 24 Celsius (75 Fahrenheit). Although warm for salmon, we have been fortunate with cooling nights and temperatures that haven't jumped much higher then that. In more good news, we were fortunate to enter July with more water in the river then we have seen the past few years. This is mainly thanks to some steady rain spells in May and June. As Jerry Yang, co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo, mentioned: "Without rain, there is no life." More water in our Downeast Rivers is a good thing! Fish love water. More water in the river throughout the summer means more space for a salmon to move, forage, evade predators (like invasive bass) and find cooler places to hang out deep in pools or by groundwater seeps. We hope to see this translated into large parr abundance, or how many baby salmon are in the river, this fall during electrofishing . Hopefully we will find the parr happy, healthy, swimming, and there will be a lot of them!

2019 Smolt Trapping Preliminary numbers are in from the work DSF and Maine DMR (also, thank you NOAA for use of your rotary screw traps) put into smolt trapping this spring, 2019. We captured the second highest number of smolts (220) ever during the Peter Gray Parr Project! The preliminary population estimate from the smolt trap is 1291 +/- 235. There are also smolt that grow below the trapping location and they were estimated to be 185 smolts. Combined, this is 1,476 smolts that entered the Atlantic ocean from the East Machias River and considering the droughts these fish endured the past three summers this is an encouraging number! As you can see in the chart to the right, this is the second highest smolt estimate we have seen on the East Machias River! Long story short the number of salmon leaving the East Machias River in 2019 from parr stocking is almost 5 times more than the number in 2013 from fry stocking. For more information on smolt trapping please read that hatchery update here or check out our website.

Have you ever cleaned sand and sediment out of a hatchery intake box with an ash shovel? We have! The majority of the Peter Gray Parr Project team by the Pleasant River.

Thank you for taking the time to read through our updates. If you are new to receiving these updates and would like to catch up on some you have missed, please visit our website here . If there are any of your friends you think would enjoy this content please share with them or let us know their email address to add to the list! If you like the work we are doing, please considering donating towards the continuation of the Peter Gray Parr Project . We hope this update 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! Kind Regards, Peter Gray Hatchery Staff  Downeast Salmon Federation

TAX DEDUCTION! CHARITABLE DONATION!    Are you a business owner or individual looking for a tax deduction in 2019? Looking to trade in your truck for a new one this year? Would you like a tax deduction at a value higher then you would get for your trade-in? Please consider donating that pickup to the Downeast Salmon Federation. The Downeast Salmon Federation is a 501-c3, so your truck donation will give you a tax deduction equivalent to the Kelly Blue Book private sale value of your truck. The only thing we ask is that the truck is mechanically sound, has an inspection sticker or would take one, and that the truck is 4 wheel drive. Currently, we don’t have trucks to accomplish all of the important, boots-on-ground projects that are taken on each year. These tasks include stocking salmon, habitat restoration, assessment of projects, land stewardship along rivers, etc. If this is something you are interested in and want to help us better Downeast Maine’s ecosystems please contact zach@mainesalmonrivers.org or call 207-255-0676 .

$30,000 Charlie Harriman Peter Gray Parr Project Matching Gift Challenge

We are almost half-way to our goal for the 2019 Peter Gray Parr Project Matching Gift Challenge! Long-time DSF friend and supporter, Charlie Harriman, has followed up his very generous and successful 2018 challenge with another challenge: every donation to the Peter Gray Parr Project will be matched 50% - Your $100 gift becomes a $150 donation to the Peter Gray Parr Project ! Generous members and supporters like Charlie are leaving their mark on the future of Atlantic Salmon in Downeast Maine! You can leave your mark, too! Thank you, Charlie, for your steadfast commitment to the Peter Gray Parr Project!

CLICK HERE NOW TO DONATE TO THE 2019 PETER GRAY PARR PROJECT MATCHING GIFT CHALLENGE!

Are you interested in making a Contribution Pledge Commitment to DSF? Click here for the Downeast Salmon Federation Contribution Pledge Form. Thank you!

You can also support the Downeast Salmon Federation by purchasing some swag! Hats, sweatshirts, and t-shirts can be found HERE . Other ways to help are to become a member !

If you'd like to read more on the Peter Gray Parr Project 's beginnings and future please read our  Parr Project Booklet.  There is a short Parr Project video on our website  HERE.

The Downeast Salmon Federation a North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization accredited organization!

 Thank you to the Trout and Salmon Foundation for your continued support of the Peter Gray Parr Project !

Please support our work by becoming a member  of the Downeast Salmon Federation. Together, we can restore sea-run fisheries in Maine.

www.mainesalmonrivers.org

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