The Maine Department of Marine Resources says the largest run of river herring has been recorded in the Penobscot River this year — close to three million fish.
Director of Sea Run Fisheries Sean Ledwin says it was also a good year for Atlantic salmon, which used to number in the tens of thousands.
"This year on the Penobscot we had 1,325 adult salmon return. That's the second highest run in the last decade," he says.
This follows a disappointing number last year, when only 553 were recorded.
Maine is the only state with native Atlantic salmon in the U.S. And the fish have been protected under the Endangered Species Act for 20 years.
Ledwin says there are multiple factors involved in returns including passage at dams and conditions in the river and in the marine environment. But he says river restoration efforts to remove two dams and improve fish passage into lakes and ponds are paying off, as river herring are now found all the way up into Aroostook County.
