Media feature UMaine study about salmons stopped at dams

The Bangor Daily News, Courier-Gazette, Phys.org and Hydro Review featured a recent study from the University of Maine that found salmon depleted fat stores while stopped at dams. The scientists found that the tagged fish were delayed on average between 16 and 23 days at the dams and lost between 11% and 22% of their fat reserves, in large part due to the temperature of the water but also due to the delay in time. “We studied the impact of delay at only a single barrier. However, Atlantic salmon often encounter multiple dams or other barriers along their migrations and this can increase the likelihood of a cumulative loss of energy that becomes detrimental. Improving access to quality habitat benefits migrating fish species and is likely to promote increased spawning, post-spawning survival, and reproductive success in Atlantic salmon,” said Sarah Rubenstein, who completed her master’s of science in wildlife ecology at the University of Maine in 2021. Energy News Network cited the Hydro Review report.