Issue 2: Fish Passage at Eel Weir Dam, Sebago Lake Outlet
Eel Weir Dam
Eel Weir Dam controls the level of Sebago Lake and the flows
entering the Presumpscot River (above), and prevents the natural migration
of Sebago Salmon to and from the Sebago Lake and the Presumpscot River.
For millennia, Sebago Salmon left the Sebago Lake in the fall
to spawn in the upper Presumpscot River. The adults returned to the lake
the next spring. Juvenile Sebago Salmon spent their first two years in the
riffles and rapids of the Presumpscot and then swam back into Sebago to
grow to adulthood. For more than a century, the lack of a simple fishway
at the Eel Weir Dam has prevented this natural migration from occuring.
The State of Maine stocks hundreds and thousands of hatchery
salmon into Sebago Lake each year to make up for the lost natural reproduction
resulting from the inability of Sebago Salmon to reach their ancient spawning
grounds in the upper Presumpscot River.
Friends of Sebago Lake believes a simple fishway at the Eel Weir
Dam and habitat improvements in the upper Presumpscot could allow sufficient
wild reproduction of Sebago Salmon in the upper Presumpscot to eliminate
the need for expensive, annual stockings of the lake.
Meanwhile, 150 miles to the north,
This has been done for years ...
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