Penobscot River, Atlantic Salmon counts

Journal Date: May 20th, 2010 | Filed Under: News

Here is the first trap update of the year.

The Veazie trap was installed on May 3rd and our first tend was on May 4th. To date we have captured 198 new salmon (averaging 11/day). That is the largest accumulative count we have had at the trap for this time of year. Last year the trap was installed on May 4th and we had 30 salmon by May 20th, at the time, that was the largest accumulative catch-to-date. You can see in the figure below how advance the run is this year. It is too early to tell if the large numbers of returns indicates a banner year or just a shift in the run timing. I suspect that the early spring and has played a role in increasing the number of early returns. We have also observed earlier than normal smolt migration on the rivers that we monitor. Water temperatures are normal for this time of year averaging 13.7 C (56.7 F) over the last week.

Look for my next update in a couple of weeks.

Oliver Cox
Fishery Biologist
Department of Marine Resources
Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat
650 State Street, Bangor, ME 04401
office: 207.941.4487

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