Tributaries of the Kennebec Lntering Merrymeetlng Bay 



Merrymeeting Baj'" is formed by the confluence of two major rivers j the 

 Androscoggin and the Kenneoec, and several smaller streams. Except for tne 

 river channels ^ tne bay Is relatively shallow viitn zne bottom varying through 

 sandj gravel, and mud. Large^ "grass" areas of aquatic vegetation make it an 

 important feeding area for ducks and geese during the spring and fall migra- 

 tions. The mean range of tides is about five feet (U. So Dept. Commerce Tide 

 Tables, 19^0) , The great volume of fresh water entering the bay makes the bay 

 almost completely fresh water except for the area near its outlet at "The 

 Chops". In former times^ an appreciable salinity was said to invade the bay 

 during periods of low water flow during the summer. The contrclled flow of 

 the rivers today, through the systems of dams extending to their sources, 

 appears to have lessened this effect. According to Stevenson, Merrymeetlng 

 Bay was a spawning area for shad: "Merrymeetlng Bay, by reason of its broad, 

 sandy flats, is also a favorable place for shad spawrdng" (Stevenson, I898, 



p. 265). 



The Androscoggin River enters the bay from the southwest. While never 

 a shad river, because of impassable falls at Brunswick, the five-mile stretch 

 between Brunswick and the bay was regularly fished. The Androscoggin River 

 is now heavily polluted with all types of pollution from Brunswick to Berlin, 

 New Hampshire, so that it has become entirely unsuitable for all kinds of 

 fish. Pollution has become sufficiently serious to require corrective 

 measures in such cities as Leiviston- Auburn during the summer months to reduce 

 the stench sufficiently to make its course through these cities habitable 

 (personal conversation with Dr. William Sawyer, Jr., Chairman, Department of 

 Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine). Fishermen and others in the Merry- 

 meeting Bay area believe the Androscoggin is the chief source of pollution in 

 the Merrymeetlng Bay area and consider the Kennebec itself to be quite suitable 

 for fish. 



The Cathance River enters the bay on its western side. This river was 

 formerly an important one for shad fishing, both below and above the town of 

 Bowdoinham. 



Two former shad fishermen were interviewed in the town of Bowdoinham. 

 These men stated that the Cathance was fished from the railroad trestle about 

 three and a half miles above Bowdoinham to the bay. The best fishing was 

 from the "middle" and "upper middle" grounds, about a mile and a half above 

 Bowdoinham, to the bay. 



One of the fishermen stated that the last good catch of shad in the Merry- 

 meeting Bay district was in the Spring of I918. He remembered the date not 

 only because of the good fishing but also because, newly married, he was li-ziag 

 with his wife's parents while fishing the Abagadasset River that spring. "The 

 next year there was nothing and there's been nothing since," he stated. 



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