This summer, advocates for the restoration of the Presumpscot River are cheering the return of ocean-run alewives to the section that flows between Mallison Falls and Saccarappa Falls in downtown Westbrook. The annual fish migration is reaching the Mallison Falls area for the first time in almost 300 years.
During 2019 and 2020, a major overhaul to the Saccarappa Dam complex in Westbrook added a state of the art fishway. At the same time, the dam owner, Sappi Paper, removed several concrete dam structures which had blocked fish from swimming upstream from Casco Bay toward Sebago Lake since the early 1900’s. Prior to that era, various wooden dam structures had been in place since the 1730’s.
The dam removal by Sappi was a project involving input from the state and federal governments, as well as the city of Westbrook. Part of the purpose of the project was to allow ocean run fish to return upstream as far as Mallison Falls, which is located on the town line between Gorham and Windham.
Friends of the Presumpscot River hopes that the renewed upstream access will allow fish to spawn in many streams they had not been able to reach since the 1730’s, including the entire Little River drainage. In addition to alewife and blueback herring, other species that may possibly return include shad, lamprey, and salmon.
The new Saccarappa fishways were first opened in May. Since then, more fish than expected have been seen, moving upstream. Initial fish count numbers will be released later this year.
Completion of the two year project marks a historic advance in the decades-long efforts by the Friends of the Presumpscot River to return the river to a more natural, free-flowing state, while also improving environmental quality and recreational opportunities along the entire length of the river.
It is anticipated that eagles and many other kinds of wildlife will benefit from positive changes to their habitat, due to the river having a direct connection with the ocean. Shaughnessy stated that the abundance of fish below Mallison Falls this summer is a good sign, since it is the overall number and the variety of fish species that activate the requirements for creating additional fish passages.
Shaughnessy stated that the river enhancement and cleanup efforts are also intended to make partial amends for the historical injustices which occurred during the 1600’s and 1700’s especially during the 1730’s, 1740’s, and 1750’s.
During that era, dam-building, overfishing, logging, and other issues led to conflicts between colonists from Massachusetts and the native Wabanaki people, who had called this area home for thousands of years. Amid decades of struggles with colonizers, some Wabanaki people were killed in skirmishes, while many more starved or died of exposure due to settler-caused disruptions to their food supply and dwellings.
“The river flow is now more natural than it has been in hundreds of years,” said Michael Shaughnessy, president of the Friends of the Presumpscot River.
Regarding the Saccarappa Falls area, Shaughnessy said, “Befitting of the First People, it should be a shared resource where people can intimately engage with the river, enjoy it recreationally, immerse themselves in its beauty, and learn of the deeper history of the people who lived here. It can be a place where the obscurity that covered their cultures and customs can be peeled away and inform generations moving forward.”
Shaughnessy added that his organization has goals of extending fish passage upriver past Mallison Falls to Little Falls, Gambo Falls, and Great Falls, eventually reaching Sebago Lake, through more dam removals and fishway installations. However, this process is likely to take decades to be completed.