A Historic Fishing Grounds
The Kennebec River, which drains one-fifth of the state of Maine, is comparable only to Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay in its importance as a fish spawning ground. Unique along the New England Coast, the Kennebec River flows into a large estuary which connects with other tidal rivers, creating a multitude of salt marshes and islands that protect and nourish juvenile fish. Extraordinarily rich in aquatic life, the Kennebec once provided a migratory route and spawning grounds for virtually every Northeastern species of anadromous fish—ocean-dwelling fish that come up rivers to spawn—from sturgeon to salmon. In 1723, a French priest described alewives moving up the Kennebec “in such numbers that a person could fill 50,000 barrels in a day, if he could endure the labor.”
A Dam Blocks the Mouth of the River
Built in 1837, the Edwards Dam was 25 feet high and 917 feet wide, with an 850-foot spillway. The timber and concrete structure rose approximately 20 feet above the water, creating a 1,143-acre reservoir that extended 17 miles upstream to the next dam in Waterville. Sitting just at the far reaches of tidal influence, the Edwards Dam was the first, and therefore most devastating, obstruction encountered by large populations of sea-run fish on the way to their upstream spawning grounds, especially Atlantic salmon, striped bass, river herring, and sturgeon.
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