The Ducktrap River, just east of Lincolnville, has a steep gradient 

 a short distance from the sea. The svd.ft flov; over a shallow, rocky bed 

 appears to make the lower part of this river entirely unsuitable for shad. 



The Passagasawaukeag River at Belfast is the last river of any size 

 between the Ducktrap and Penobscot. There is no recorded account of shad 

 ever having been caught in this river. A concrete dam about 10 feet high 

 at Holmes Mill without a fishway makes the fresh-water portion of the river 

 inaccessible to shad. 



Penobscot River 



Historical accounts of shad in the Penobscot River indicate that 

 dams alone were the principal factor exterminating the run of shad. Indus- 

 trial pollution, principally from pulp and paper mills, did not become im- 

 portant until long after the construction of dams. Since the original dams 

 were built to provide power for saw-mills, there is a possibility sawdust 

 pollution may have contributed to the decline. The available evidence sug- 

 gests, however, that the decline in numbers was immediately associated with 

 construction of dams and was not caused by the accumulative effects of 

 pollution. 



The process began with the damming of the tributaries. The Segeundedunk 

 was dammed in April 1771 (Ford, l882, p. 522). A map of Bangor in 1820 

 (Ford, 1882, p. $39) shows a dam near the mouth of Kenduskeag stream. This 

 dam was probably built about 1795 when a sawmill was erected at the head of 

 tide (Ford, 1882, p. ^39)- in I83O, the main river was dammed at Oldtown 

 which "seriously hindered the passage of shad and alewives" (Atkins, I889, 

 p. 709). About 1835, a dam was built at Veazie which closed the main river 

 below Oldtown. This did not completely obstruct the passage of fishs 



"By the gradual washing away of the left bank of the river, 

 there was uncovered a crevice in the ledge which enabled sal- 

 mon to ascend, and they were thus preserved from complete 

 destruction, but shad and alewives never recovered, though 

 there is evidence that shad sometimes, in small numbers, 

 passed both the above dams. Very soon after the building of 

 these dams a rapid decline in the fisheries began. The shad 

 fishery was in a few years utterly extinguished." (Atkins, I889, 

 p. 711). 



Writing of the period about 179h, Ford (1882, p. 539) states; 



"Fish, too, began to be a marketable commodity. The streams 

 were full of them, Salmon, shad, and alewives were taken 

 under Lover's Leap, at the mouths of the Mantawassuck, 

 Segeundedunk and Sowadabscook streams and at Penobscot Falls, 



i5 



