The
Orland River is a major tributary to the Penobscot River and provides habitat
for diadromous (migratory sea-run) fish. Fish that were in the Orland River
historically are still in the Orland River today—this is contrast to many other
rivers that have lost their populations of migratory fish.
Below
the Orland Village Dam are Atlantic salmon, American eel, alewife, blueback herring,
shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, sea lamprey, rainbow smelt, tomcod, and
American shad. Both eel and alewife are the target of active commercial
fisheries, although at lower levels than in the past. The Town of Orland
harvests and sells alewives for lobster bait (generating $5,000-$10,000 per
year). When the alewives are running, the area below the Orland Village Dam
fills with eagles, osprey, gulls, cormorants, and seals.
A
century ago, Orland was the center of the alewife fishery on the Penobscot
River, as described in this excerpt from the 1905 U.S. Fish Commission Report. This important role continues today. Given the incomplete passage at
other dams farther up in the watershed, Orland-Narramissic River is important
for restoring alewives to the Penobscot River.
This is largely because the river still has fish, including a harvestable run
of alewives, but also because of the large area of lake habitat upstream,
intact forests in the watershed, and clean water. A recent assessment by The
Nature Conservancy placed Orland in the top 5% for sea-run fish habitat
potential among Northeastern U.S. rivers and among the highest in the Penobscot
River basin, with a potential return of at least 1,245,735 adult alewives
[Source: The Nature Conservancy and NOAA].
Fisheries
scientists believe that restoring these migratory fish, millions of which once
filled the Penobscot River and Gulf of Maine, will also aid the recovery of
marine fish like cod and other groundfish, which eat alewives. These changes
are already being documented in Penobscot Bay as alewives have been restored in
Blackman Stream in Milford, Pushaw Stream in Old Town, and elsewhere.
Freshwater
fish in the Narramissic River, upstream of the Orland Village dam, include
largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brown bullhead, pumpkinseed
sunfish, chain pickerel, and brown trout, most of which are not native to the
watershed. Wild brook trout are present in the river, supplemented with stocked
fish by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Alewives, salmon,
and eel can be found seasonally in the Narramissic River as well.
