1 / 24

4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management

4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management. Carolyn J. Hall HRF, 22 Oct 2012. Outline.

dalton
Download Presentation

4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. 4 centuries of damming and fishing: 4 studies of river herring & management Carolyn J. Hall HRF, 22 Oct 2012

  2. Outline • The historic influence of dams on diadromous fish habitat with a focus on river herring & hydrologic longitudinal connectivity. Landscape Ecology. Hall, Jordaan, & Frisk. 2011 • Centuries of anadromous forage fish loss: consequences for ecosystem connectivity and productivity. BioScience. Hall, Jordaan, & Frisk. 2012. • TU: Status of diadromous fishes in coastal rivers, ME to VA. Part of final report to NFWF: Assessment of Atlantic Coast watersheds for river herring and diadromous fish conservation. Dauwalter et al. 2012. • EDF: Northeast river herring organization survey. Part of larger RH study also looking at ocean fisheries bycatch and stock assessments. Kritzer et al. In prep. Funded by NFWF

  3. Landscape Ecology: Impact of dams on historical river herring watersheds of Maine “impassable dams … first principal cause of [river herring] decay” Charles Atkins, 1868 Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

  4. Dams in Maine over 300 years • 1634: first dam in Maine • 1750: NE expansion • 1800s: logging industry • 1846: all RH rivers dammed at head of tide • 915 dams built by 1900 • 20-fold increase in • construction from 1750 Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

  5. Spawning habitat: percent stream distance Casco Bay Kennebec 1750: 90% 1800: 50% 1850: 25% 1750: 100% 1800: 20% 1850: 15% Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

  6. Spawning habitat: percent lake area By 1800: < 5% virgin lake area remaining on all watersheds Casco Bay Kennebec 1762 3% 1754, 1760, 1792 4.8% Hall et al. 2011. Landscape Ecology

  7. Habitat loss related to harvest: 1800s watershed percent contribution to alewife fisheries Damariscotta lake spawning area = 5.8% Penobscot (white)lake spawning area Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

  8. BioScience: how to estimate loss of fish from lost spawning habitat? Lake Area in Maine Alewives Lost

  9. Productivity: # fish per km2Median value of adult alewives/area of lake: 20th century Damariscotta recruit data (1949-1983) & harvest data (1949-2007)State average of 5 watersheds: equal to Damariscotta Damariscotta Lake 18.9 km2 120,000 fish/km2 = 150,000 fish/km2 120,000 fish/km2 Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

  10. Lost annual alewife production in Maine 1600 - 1900 Cumulative loss: 14 billion alewives (including recruits not harvested) Maine Estimates Total US Landings 130 million/year 100 million/year 50 million/year Total harvest loss: 11.8 billion fish Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

  11. Lost juvenile forage base The lost 14 billion was based on 4 yr old spawning recruits. What about lost 1-3 year olds? Annual juvenile loss: By 1750: 10 million By 1800: 795 million By 1850: 1.3 billion Cumulative for 1750 - 1850 Hall et al. 2012. BioScience

  12. Consequences for coastal ecosystems Dams Atlantic Cod Decline Decline? Alewife White hake Pollution Blueback Herring Striped bass principal coastal forage fishes predators (and fisheries)

  13. Alteration of Atlantic coast food-web Extirpated cod & hake stocks Cod & hake studies: Ted Ames 2004 & 2012 Diagram courtesy of Dr. Adrian Jordaan

  14. Trout Unlimited – collected dam information (partnered with TNC Aquatic Connectivity study), historical & current migration data, & run counts for 9 diadromous fishes ME to VA • Chance to collate/compare regional information • TU used these parameters along with habitat conditions, weighting of diadromous fish species, future security of populations, etc. to calculate a conservation value and rank watersheds from ME to VA at the subwatershed scale. The conservation values were done twice: for river herring only and for 12 diadromous species (including hickory shad, striped bass, & brook trout).

  15. Alewife historical and current migration per river

  16. Blueback herring historical and current migration per river (no ME)

  17. Recentrun counts for diad. fishes

  18. TU: River herring coastal distribution

  19. EDF: River herring organization surveys – Government (state to municipal), Business, Non-profit, Academic, Native American, Coalition/Association Qs: What are organizations focused on? How are they similar? How are they connected? What new partnerships can/should be pursued? 2 SurveyMonkey surveys Maine: Sept 2010 to Jan 2011 105 surveys sent, 60 responses = 57% response rate NH, VT, MA, RI, CT: Feb 2011 to April 2011 173 surveys sent, 87 responses = 50% response rate Government, Non-profit, academic: most responses Business: fewest responses

  20. Part 1: comparative org data analysis Maine Organizations’ approaches to issues of concern: • Education & outreach • Policy development &/or advocacy • Field research & monitoring • Environ protection, restor, &/or mitigation • Litigation • Other NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

  21. Primary interest served by org: Ocean conserv & mngmnt Watershed conserv & mngmnt Hist & cultural preservation Commercial fishing Recreational fishing Other active recreation (hunt, hike, boat) Natural history (birding) Other Maine Ranked 1-3 Ocean/coastal conserv, restor, &/or mngmnt Wtrshd/terristrial conserv, restor, &/or mngmnt Aquatic science/research Hist & cultural preservation Commercial fishing Recreational fishing Other active recreation (hunt, hike, boat) Natural history (e.g. birding) NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

  22. Org’s interest in & involvement with impacts on RH: Maine Fish passage Water quality In-stream & riparian habitat Invasive species Directed fishing Bycatch Other (ME) Fish stocking/genetics (NH, etc.) • Green: unconcerned • Red: concerned but not planning to become involved • Purple: Not active right now but likely to become involved • Blue: Somewhat active • Orange: Very active NH, VT, MA, RI, CT

  23. Part 2: organization network map - who works with or gets info from whom? Maine organizations only (draft)

  24. Acknowledgements • Adrian Jordaan & Michael G. Frisk, SoMAS, SBU • Dan Dauwalter & Jack Williams, Trout Unlimited • William Leavenworth & Karen Alexander, UNH • Edward P. Ames, Penobscot East Resource Center • Gail Wippelhauser & Tom Squiers, Maine DMR • Peter Steenstra, Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery • Maine State Archives • Maine Historical Society • Fogler Library, Special Collections, Univ. of Maine, Orono • Bangor Public Library, Local History/Special Collections • Funding: • Mia J. Tegner Memorial Research Grant • NOAA research award • Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, Trout Unlimited research … Thank you

More Related