Go To: Home : Participating Schools : Nobleboro Central School

Damariscotta Lake Alewife Ladder

Fish ladder from Great Salt Bay into Damariscotta Lake. Photo taken from Boston Museum of Science.
More
than two centuries ago, the people of Damariscotta Mills, Maine noticed
the impact of their dam on alewives trying to swim up stream to
Damariscotta Lake to spawn. Year after year, the fish threw themselves
against the concrete dam to no avail. The townspeople depended on the
power generated from the dam to run their mills, but they also depended
on the alewives for food and trade. So in 1809, they decided to build a
FISH LADDER to give the alewives an alternate route around the dam. The
original fish ladder was a twisting maze of rocks creating small
waterfalls and resting pools guiding the alewives up 42 vertical feet.

FALL 2006 PEMAQUID LAKE CRUISE







3

OCTOBER 2006 MLCI FIELD TRIP


Ashley M.
Cody and I are taking a secchi disc reading off the side of the Melinda Ann.  Pemaquid Pond had a reading of nearly five meters throughout the day.  It was a little windy and we are curious about how that may affect the accuracy of the secchi reading.