Two hundred years ago, thousands of Atlantic salmon traveled up Maine’s rivers to lay their eggs each fall. Now, Atlantic salmon are endangered, and there are very few places where they are found in the state. The Kennebec and Sheepscot rivers are both important places for Maine’s salmon. Learn about this endangered fish and local projects that support them at a talk on Wednesday, Aug. 29. This free talk will be held at the Bath Freight Shed and is sponsored by the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and the Midcoast Conservancy.

The talk with feature John Burrows from the Atlantic Salmon Federation and Paul Christman from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. They will be presenting about the state of Atlantic salmon in Maine and restoration projects in the Kennebec, Androscoggin, and Sheepscot Rivers.  John Burrows is the Director of New England Programs for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, an organization committed to the conservation of the wild Atlantic salmon and its environment. He has been closely associated with projects that restore salmon habitat on the Sheepscot River. Paul Christman is a biologist with the Department of Marine Resources in Hallowell. He has carried out projects to support salmon populations in both the Kennebec and Sheepscot River drainages, including planting salmon eggs and stocking baby salmon (called fry) and young salmon (called parr or smolt).

This talk is part of a series focused on fish that migrate through Maine’s estuaries and rivers that the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and the Midcoast Conservancy have collaborated to host this summer. The earlier presentations were about sturgeon and alewives, and this is the final program of the series.

The Bath Freight Shed is located at 27 Commercial Street in Bath. Parking is available along the street or in the lot to the south of the building. Preregistration for the lecture is not required, but it is appreciated for help with program planning. For more information or to sign-up, visit KELT’s website at www.kennebecestuary.org or call (207) 442-8400.