STREAM SURVEYS OF THE SHEEPSCOT 

 AND DUGKTRAP RIVER SYSTEM IN MAINE 



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 and the Atlantic Sea Run Salmon Commission 

 conducted a cooperative investigation to deter- 

 mine methods for rehabilitating the Atlantic 

 salmon in State of Maine waters . One phase 

 of the program was concerned with stream 

 surveys to collect information on obstructions 

 to fish migration, pollution, water tempera- 

 tures, and stream discharges. A further 

 objective was to locate and to estimate the 

 amount of spawning and rearing area that could 

 be of use to salmon in each watershed . 



rubble (stones 6-18" in diameter), medium 

 rubble (stones 3-6" in diameter), small rubble 

 (stones 1/4-3" in diameter), and mud and sand 

 (stones or particles less than 1/4" in diameter), 

 The localities of these data were recorded in 

 miles above a designated landmark at or near 

 the mouth of the river . This procedure made 

 it possible to estimate the portions of the 

 stream that were made up of pools or riffles 

 and to estimate the square yards of spawning 

 and/or nursery area in the different stream 

 sections . 



This report summarizes the findings 

 for the Sheepscot and Ducktrap Rivers . 



John V . Mahoney helped collect data 

 for this paper; J. E . Mason prepared the maps 

 and revised the manuscript. Alden P. Stickney 

 supplied information to make the description of 

 the Sheepscot River and its obstructions cor- 

 rect as of 1956 and provided Figure 2. 

 Acknowledgment is made of the information 

 given and assistance rendered by members of 

 the Lincoln County Fish and Game Association, 

 and in particular to J . White Nichols and 

 Clarence Race for their fact furnishing on the 

 Sheepscot River . Mr . and Mrs . Arthur Oxton 

 and Mr . Mark Wardsworth of Lincolnville 

 Beach, gave much of their time assisting in the 

 Ducktrap River area . 



Methods 



The procedures followed in these sur- 

 veys were described in some detail in "A 

 Survey of the Narraguagus River and Its 

 Tributaries ' by Floyd G. Bryant (Research 

 Report No. 2, Atlantic Sea Run Salmon Com- 

 mission) . The first step was to classify a 

 river section as either a pool or a riffle . The 

 length and width of this area was then measured 

 or otherwise determined and an estimate made 

 of the percentage of the wetted river bottom 

 covered by gravel classified as boulder rubble 

 (stones larger than 18" in diameter), large 

 rubbe 



Concurrent with the observations on 

 bottom composition, data were recorded on 

 water depth, obstructions, water stage, water 

 temperatures, gradient, pollution, predators, 

 species of fish observed, and such other in- 

 formation as appeared pertinent. 



The data relative to bottom composition 

 are subject to errors of measurement, and to 

 errors due to differences between observers 

 and to differences in river discharge volumes 

 on successive survey days. It is believed that 

 these errors were minimized by observer 

 training and that the net result is not of such 

 magnitude as to prevent gross comparison of 

 watersheds . A further limiting factor was that 

 the survey year was the third of three succes- 

 sive years of low precipitation. As a result, 

 the stream bottom normally wet is somewhat 

 larger than indicated by the survey data . 



Sheepscot River 



General description 



The Sheepscot River watershed was 

 surveyed between June 13 and July 17, 1950. 

 The survey started at the Alna (Public Dock) 

 Bridge, defined as the mouth, and proceeded 

 upstream to cover 24.5 miles of flowing water. 

 Inspections of the stream were made at inter- 

 vals in the succeeding 5.5 miles. The flow in 

 the remaining approximately 9 miles to the 



