Fish present 



A run of alewives usually occurs in 

 Tilden and Pitcher Ponds in the spring of the 

 year. Many of the resultant young are land- 

 locked in the pond areas during drought periods . 



Schools of small shiners, chub, dace, 

 and suckers were seen from 2 to 7 miles above 

 the mouth in the deeper pool areas . An occa- 

 sional smallmouth bass was noted, as were 

 small brook trout . 



The available history shows that the 

 Ducktrap supported a run of Atlantic salmon at 

 one time . So far as can be determined, there 

 have been no runs of any magnitude or of any 

 consistency for more than a decade . None 

 were caught in a weir operated about 3 miles 

 above the mouth of the river in either 1949 or 

 1950. 



Efforts have been made in recent years 

 to establish a run of silver salmon ( Oncorhyn- 

 chu.: k isutc h) in the watershed by means of 

 hatchery plants of fingerlings . (In November 

 1952, two Atlantic salmon females and 21 

 silver salmon were seined from the mouth and 

 liberated upstream where the flow was suffi- 

 cient to allow fish to swim . There is no 

 indication to date that the runs are firmly 

 established) . 



Summary 



The Ducktrap River has a small water- 

 shed with a limited potential for producing 

 Atlantic salmon as compared with other, larger 

 streams in the State of Maine . It is apparent 

 from the above data that the stream flows, 

 even in favorable precipitation years are one 

 of the features most inimical to salmon produc- 

 tion. 



Table 7 is a summary of observations 

 on the tributaries to the main river . The table 

 shows that of the 19 tributaries 4 were blocked 

 by man-made obstruction, 16 were considered 

 to have too small a flow to provide adequate 

 navigation water for salmon, and 17 were con- 

 sidered to be of little or no value to salmon 

 production in the form of spawning or nursery 



area. One of the streams was of questionable 

 value and one was considered of some value . 



Table 6 lists 12 past or present ob- 

 structions to fish migration, of which 7 would 

 require alteration to provide an adequate mi- 

 gration route . It was apparent that the low 

 discharges enhanced the effectiveness of the 

 obstructions . 



The observed water temperatures in 

 the portions of the main river where there was 

 an appreciable water flow appeared favorable 

 for production of salmon . In addition, many 

 portions of the main river appeared favorable 

 not only for spawning but as nursery areas for 

 salmon, providing they were made more ac- 

 cessible. 



Recommendations 



The survey of the Ducktrap River has 

 shown that low stream flows and obstructions 

 are the most inimical features to production of 

 Atlantic salmon. 



It may be possible to develop Tilden, 

 Pitcher, Knight, and Coleman Ponds as water - 

 storage areas for augmenting the normal 

 stream flow during low-flow or drought seasons. 



Some of the ponded areas presently have 

 a small run of alewives which may possibly be 

 materially increased if the areas were made 

 accessible. 



The following recommendations are 

 made with the belief that any conservation 

 measure undertaken should be of a type that 

 would provide for multiple species development 

 of the fishery resources of the watershed; 



1. Provide adequate fish -passage 

 facilities at obstructions . 



2. Investigate the possibility of develop- 

 ing the ponded sections of the watershed as 

 reservoirs to augment the normal stream flow 

 during low-flow periods. 



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