|
These fish populations swiftly plummeted after the dam was built. For example, a seine fishing boat from Augusta that had caught 700 shad in one day in 1822 caught a total of 3000 shad for the whole 1857 season. By 1867 the local shad industry had completely collapsed. Fish ladders—devices to help fish bypass dams—were subsequently installed, but they did little to restore populations, because striped bass, sturgeon and smelt would not use them. In any case, the upstream habitat was compromised by warmer, slower-moving water which is not appropriate for these species.
The Edwards Dam was not solely responsible for the ecological decline of the Kennebec. It was discharge from paper mills, for example, that killed off the last of the striped bass population. By the 1950s, waste water from mills and raw sewage from towns severely polluted the river, which was also choked by wood and debris from log drives. The pollution reduced oxygen levels, causing huge fish kills in 1947, 1957, 1963 and 1965. The windows of the Maine State House near the river were kept shut during the hot summer months to keep out the river’s foul odor.
|