However, because it has at the present time a small but well-established 

 run of shad which does not appear to have fluctuated notably ^>rithin the last 

 30 years. 



The Nonesuch River rises in the southwestern nai't of the township of 

 saco and flows through sandy, rolling, country to enter the sea between Pine 

 Point and Prout's Neck on Saco Bay. Except for the small vill.TP-e of Scarboro^ 

 about txjo and a half miles from its mouth, there are no settlements and few 

 houses along its entire length. The river is, therefore, practically free from 

 all kinds of pollution, A sa-dtary surve.y of the lov;er five miles of this stream 

 was made by the Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries in September 19^0, 

 in an effort to locate the sources of domestic oollution of the clam flats in 

 the Scarboro area. This survey Indicated oractically no domestic pollution 

 above tidewater and very little above the village of scarboro. 



The Nonesuch River was surveyed on Augupt 22, 1950, from the town of 

 Scarboro to Thiors con's Mills about 18 miles from the sea. 



The lov/er part of the Nonesuch, in its tidal portion, flows though 

 marshland to U. S. Highway 1. Salinity samples taken at the highway bridge 

 in Scarboro showed a salinity of less than 1/2 part per thousand just after 

 flood tide. About two miles farther up, at U. S. Highway 1, the salinity was 

 about the same. At Buggy Meetinghouse, above the influence of the tide, the 

 salinity was only slightly less than at the two lower points. From Buggy 

 MeetinghoTipe to the point where Broad Turn Road crosses the river about five 

 miles up the stream, the river flows through sandy country. It is character- 

 ized by deep pools with sandy or gravelly bottom at frequent intervals between 

 channels varying from 8 to 10 feet across with depths ranging from 18 inches 

 to two feet. In approximately 17 miles between the sea and the bridge at 

 Broad Turn Road, the river rises only hO feet with no abrupt rises noted in 

 the sections examined on foot. Between Broad Turn Road and Thurston's MillSj 

 a distance of about one and a quarter miles, the difference in elevation is 

 about 60 feet, iiO feet of this difference being just below Thurston's Mills, 

 (Elevation data from the Maine Portland Quadrangle published by the Geological 

 Survey) . 



A dam and sawmill at Thurston's Mills washed out in a freshet about 1917, 

 according to a local resident. The stream at this point is now completely 

 overgroTim with alders, and the only trace of the mill is an old sill log 

 across the bed of the stream. It is doubtful if shad ever ascended to this 

 point because of the small size and steep gradient of the stream. This is 

 confirmed through interviews ..ith two local residents who remember the exis- 

 tence of the mill. 



Interviews in the Scarboro area en September 21 with local residents who 

 have caught shad in the Nonesuch .yielded some information concerning the nam 

 of fish. The fish enter the river in early May and are caught to about the 

 middle of June. The total catch in a night's fishing may run as high as 20 



