Summertime in the Belgrades

Contents

• Cover Story
• Watershed Wisdom
• Legacies
• Conservation
• Kennebec Corridor
• Cobbossee Corner
• Conservation Too
• Fishing

Article Summaries
Previous Issue
Next Issue
News Archives
Business Directory
About Us
HOME

Spring Running Riverfront Festival:
An Augusta Success

The Spring Running: A Festival to Celebrate the Kennebec River's Herring Revival made its debut in Augusta in May with the support of over twenty participants in the Education Tent, 92 Moose live broadcast, blues musician Eric Green, magician K.J. Axell, the River Market (the local farmers' and artisans' market), free jet boat rides to tour the city from the water and to hear about local ecology and history, historical and cultural programs at Old Fort Western, and free shuttle service on the Old Fort Western trolleys between the Fort, the Kennebec landings for the Fort's bateau and the jet boat, and the center of the festivities at Mill Park near the site of the former Edwards Dam.

Since the Edwards Dam was removed in 1999, anadromous fish populations in the Kennebec River have improved steadily, having a profound effect on the ecology of the river, and restoring it to a more natural state. Alewives, blueback herring and shad, together known as river herrings, are returning to their natural grounds in increasing numbers. Sport fishermen are discovering that shad are a powerful species and are pound-for-pound among the best fighting fish in fresh water.

The Spring Running Festival recognizes this rebirth as well as the connections between the people of the Kennebec River Valley and the river itself.

Some interesting facts included in the Spring Running schedule of events about the fish of the Kennebec River are:

• The Kennebec is 170 miles long and drains a watershed of 5,900 square miles.
• Ten species of native, migratory fish once called the river home and many are now coming back in force.
• In 1774, the Howard family at Ft. Western shipped 105,000 lbs. of alewives and 1,683 lbs. of salmon taken from the river.
• The removal of Edwards Dam in Augusta was the first time a functioning hydroelectric dam was removed due to limited economic benefits being outweighed by ecological damage.
• Shortnose sturgeon (endangered species) and Atlantic sturgeon (threatened species weighing up to 80 lbs.) both inhabit the river.

Although the Festival is over, the Spring Running continues. It's a great time for fishing on the great Kennebec River.

Redisplay This Article in Printer-Friendly Format

<-- Previous • Summaries • Next -->