The Wrack

About the Project

In 2008, a group of citizens and conservation groups met to discuss the possibility of returning native migratory fish runs to the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers. Out of these discussions a plan was formulated to gather information about the historic and current condition of these fish and to begin to spread the word to the local communities. In 2009, Maine Rivers hosted a conference where river stakeholders came together to discuss the rivers and share knowledge. At the same time, the Wells Reserve began monitoring the current status of migratory fish in the rivers.

Michele Dionne, Director of Research at the Reserve, has an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Celia Chen at Dartmouth College to study how mercury moves through the salt marsh system. When some of her lab crew headed out to catch Atlantic silversides to be tested for mercury content, we got some of these small fish instead, which we originally thought must be herring.

Spanning over the subtidal zone, harbor docks make convenient places to see fish in their natural setting. And fussing with fishing gear isn’t even necessary.

The shadbush bloom can be a natural signal that shad are running in local rivers.

Wells Harbor is a fantastic place to see local species of fish. Its wooden piers and docks provide human access above a subtidal zone (a place that never fully drains during low tide) and often 'harbors' schools of juvenile and adult fishes. The pilings and docks provide structure for many species of plants and animals that attach themselves to the substrate and provide habitat for many invertebrate species, amphipods and copepods in particular, which find shelter within this "fouling" community

What's a teleost? Let's see what Wikipedia has to offer...

Teleostei is one of three infraclasses in class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes. This diverse group, which arose in the Triassic period, includes 20,000 extant species in about 40 orders. The other two infraclasses, Holostei and Chondrostei, are paraphyletic.

The Atlantic tomcod is a hardy, year-round inhabitant that never abandons its home for the promise of warmer water.