KENNEBEC JOURNAL • December 5, 2021
Before the dams between Waterville and Skowhegan were added to the Kennebec River, sea-run fish freely moved between their native spawning habitats in the Sandy River and the ocean. Each year 100,000 to 200,000 Atlantic salmon made it to the ocean successfully. Now four dams stand between the nearly-extinct fish and their spawning ground, bringing their numbers down to 50. If fish were dollars, we’d call this a market crash, and investors would be devastated, enraged, and motivated into action. Removing the dams would also bolster populations of other sea-run fish species including alewives, shad, blueback herring, American eel and more. We would be wise to revisit native ways of respecting the animals that chose us and waterways that we are lucky enough to benefit from. ~ Ari O’Neill, Litchfield