June 12, 2019 — A new generation of Atlantic salmon is getting acquainted with the headwaters of the Aroostook River watershed this spring, as a coalition of organizations works on a long-term effort to restore populations of the fish in northern Maine.

More than 40,000 newly hatched Atlantic salmon were released into tributary streams of the Aroostook River in early June. They are the first cohort of hatches sourced from wild, genetically diverse salmon in the greater St. John River watershed, said David Putnam, a member of the volunteer-run Atlantic Salmon for Northern Maine group.

Most salmon releases have relied on captive-raised fish, and releases over the last several decades in northern Maine and elsewhere have not been successful in establishing new populations of the fish, Putnam said.

These new fish represent a “new strategy,” said Putnam, a long-time natural history and sciences instructor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. The young salmon come from eggs taken from wild fish that were “selected to get a broad genetic diversity from St. John River salmon,” Putnam said.

The young salmon “fry” were released without being fed in a hatchery and should have a better chance at long-term survival and adaptation than hatchery-raised offspring, Putnam said.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News