The Wrack

We got lots of help over 10 weeks of fyke netting in the York River and added 3,759 fish records to our database. The results will be included in a report to the York River Wild and Scenic Committee.

For the past five weeks, our research staff have been out fishing in the rivers of southern Maine to provide up-to-date information on species with the greatest need for conservation. We have been fortunate to have the help of some dedicated community volunteers and members of the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited.  This is the earliest we’ve been fishing in recent years and the catch has been diverse and exciting!

This spring, our research staff will be heading out to nearby rivers to begin a fish-monitoring project and you can get involved.

We're collaborating with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) to generate up-to-date population information on species with the greatest conservation need in coastal Maine. DMR staff have identified potential spawning habitat for diadromous species such as alewife, rainbow smelt, and brook trout in the Merriland River, Mousam River, and Little River (Biddeford). Now we’re off too see if these species are indeed using these habitats.

As the warmest part of the summer is upon us here in southern Maine, the movement of fish in Branch Brook has slowed down and researchers here at The Reserve have caught a break from their fishing efforts. We recently removed our fyke net from the river at the Route 9 intersection but are continuing to monitor the trap at the top of the fish ladder at the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District and are finally having some time to look at our data of what was caught, tagged, and recaptured this year and compared to last. So far, some interesting results!

Fellow Research Intern Tim Dubay and I have been working with Jeremy Miller this summer to expand the Wells Reserve’s ongoing larval fish project. We're "Team Larval Fish!"

Goal

Assess occurrence of migratory fish species in Branch Brook to establish a baseline prior to anticipated restoration and improvement of an inoperable fish ladder.

I cannot believe it’s been six months since I left the Wells Reserve at the end of my MCC term. Last November, having spent the summer and fall gaining valuable field experience, I headed home to pursue my next career goal: admission to graduate school. It was a daunting but surprisingly natural transition, as my experiences at the Reserve prepared me well for this next phase.

Goal

Determine the presence or absence of diadromous rainbow smelt and appropriate habitat within the restored area of Shoreys Brook

Project Period

March and April 2012

On a classic October morning, a research team heads to the Eliot–South Berwick line, where a private landowner has opened his property for a Wells Reserve study of fish and fish habitat. Parking the pickup at the end of a long hayfield, the five gather up gear and step into a middle-aged pine-oak forest, then head downslope past ferns and toppled trees till the trail goes wet underfoot, the canopy breaks, and they stand at the edge of Shoreys Brook. This is headquarters for the next few hours. It is one of eight sites along the brook’s 4.3 miles being surveyed for resident and migratory fish, and their habitat, in advance of a planned dam removal downstream.

Just one of many projects underway in the research department at the Wells Reserve this summer is the environmental monitoring of the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers in support of an ongoing initiative, the Mousam & Kennebunk Rivers Alliance (MKRA).