Maynard et a!.: Movement and mortality of Atlantic salmon keits (Salmo salar) released into the Penobscot River, Maine 
289 
returns to the Penobscot River have averaged 0.04% 
in the past decade. This percentage is below that of 
reports from degraded rivers in France where multi¬ 
spawning individuals made up 0.5-3% of spawning 
runs (Bardonnet and Bagliniere, 2000). 
The majority of keits released into the Penobscot 
River overwintered in freshwater or the estuary rather 
than makimg a rapid exit to the marine environment. 
There was no measurable difference in migratory tim¬ 
ing between fish released downstream of the head of 
tide and those released ~5Q km upstream, and some 
fish stocked upstream were able to successfully mi¬ 
grate to the ocean through one or two hydroelectric 
facilities. Survival rates were comparable for the two 
release groups, but were lower than expected. Addi¬ 
tionally, the majority of tagged fish exhibited directed, 
upstream movements more characteristic of ripe fish 
than spent fish. Survival and movement patterns may 
have been influenced by an unusually mild winter. Fu¬ 
ture research may benefit from a longer time-series 
of data, as well as better quantification of the repro¬ 
ductive status of the fish. The focus of this study was 
to document the possibility of adult Atlantic salmon 
requiring passage both upstream and downstream at 
dams in the Penobscot River during time periods when 
these facilities traditionally are nonoperational. 
Acknowledgments 
The Penobscot River Restoration Trust, the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University 
of Maine provided funding. C. Domina, D. Buckley, M. 
Simpson, S. Clark, A. Molina Moctezuma, K. Boyd, R. 
Spencer, H. Brinson, the Penobscot Indian Nation, the 
City of Old Town, the Pate family, and the Maine War¬ 
den Service provided additional support. This study 
was performed under the auspices of University of 
Maine IACUC protocol no. A2014-09-08. 
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