GUILFORD, Maine — The Piscataquis River is the new habit for 25-thousand Atlantic salmon. On Wednesday at the Guilford and Abbott town line, the fish were released into the river after spending a year at the Green Lake Natural Fish Hatchery.
"There's a little over 8,000 fish on each truck. We'll be discharging the fish and the water that's in this truck through our discharge hose and into the river," said Green Lake National Fish Hatchery Manager Oliver Cox.
The teams hopes that this release will help to increase the population of Atlantic salmon in Maine, as well as promote the natural spawning of the species.
"We can have wild spawning naturally reared salmon in our rivers, instead of relying on the hatcheries over and over and over again," said Dan McCaw, the Penobscot Nation Fisher Program Manager.
The Atlantic Salmon population has decreased in Maine following industrialization along its rivers.
"We're hoping to have salmon encounter the dams below here. Work with the towns, have people in the towns see that this is an important river for salmon, and then hopefully we can make some improvements," said Sean Ledwin of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Organizers hope for roughly 50 adult salmon to return back to the Piscataquis River after two years. This is the first salmon stocking of that river in six years. Organizers also plan to stock the river next year, as well.