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The Merrimack River Anadromous Fish Restoration Program Policy Committee at a recent meeting painted a bleak future for the restoration of Atlantic salmon, shad and herring to the watershed.
More than forty representatives attended the meeting including senior executives of US Fish & Wildlife Service, NH Fish & Game, Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the US Forest Service.
Staff members from the offices of Congressmen Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley also attended along with representatives of the Merrimack Sportsman's Advisory Board, New Hampshire Wildlife Federation and Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire Trout Unlimited.
The results of the meeting, in a nutshell, challenged future support by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for the Merrimack River Anadromous Fish Restoration Program. Current budget constraints will result in the Nashua Federal Hatchery closing. Budget problems in Massachusetts include staffing to operate the fish lifts at the Essex Dam in Lawrence and the Pawtucket Dam in Lowell. Unfortunately, the dams do not have fish ladders to allow upstream migration.
The Merrimack and Pemigewasset river basin is comprised of over 136 miles of main stream river, with over a dozen other main rivers accounting for 5000 square miles. There are seven mainstream dams and 100 additional dams in the basin.
As recently as 1960, the Merrimack was among the ten most polluted rivers in the US. Now it provides drinking water for 300,000 residents and 1.6 million residents live in the basin. The clean water act and anadromous fish restoration have resulted in river herring (alewife and blueback herring), American shad, American eels and Atlantic salmon returning to the river. An average of 55,000 adult shad pass the Essex fish lift in Lawrence, Mass.
Joe McKeon, Program Coordinator for the US Fish & Wildlife Service stated that the proposed budget would not support funding for electrical and maintenance costs required to keep the Nashua federal hatchery operational.
Currently, the hatchery operation is staffed by two employees, four are required to run the operation. Joe questioned if it would be possible to keep the current brood stock Atlantic salmon alive until they could be stocked in the river in the spring.
Joe commented that volunteer efforts in 2003 kept the hatchery program functioning.
In 2003, members of Trout Unlimited provided over 500 volunteer hours to the anadromous fish program working at the Essex lift, stocking Salmon fry in the MerrimackÕs tributaries, surveying the health of salmon parr throughout the watershed and helping with the spawning of brood stock salmon at the Nashua Hatchery. Along with other organizations and individuals they were able to supplement the Nashua Hatchery staff.
Shutdown of the Nashua hatchery would require three years to recycle fish into the program to start it up again. Nashua is one of three federal hatcheries involved in the program. Green Lake in Maine provides smolts (two year old salmon) and North Attleboro in Mass produces fry (newly hatched salmon) for spring stocking of the river.
The state agency directors, led by Lee Perry Executive Director of New Hampshire Fish and Game, will be meeting soon to seek a solution among the New England states. At the same time, public reaction (either positive or negative) will have an impact. Congressional support will be required to obtain funding to keep the program operational.
Perry and Wayne MacCallum, director of Mass Fish & Wildlife, have committed to work together in a strong attempt to not only salvage the program but develop an ongoing program to insure existence of the program so itÕs not operating on a yearly band aid approach.
If the current budget status remains unchanged by mid-March, it's highly likely the funding required to keep the program operational will end.
If you would like to see the program continue contact your United States senator and representative to request support.