{"id":30442,"date":"2023-10-06T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=30442"},"modified":"2023-10-24T17:47:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T00:47:19","slug":"suping-the-route-of-the-salmon-on-the-penobscot-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2023\/10\/06\/suping-the-route-of-the-salmon-on-the-penobscot-river\/","title":{"rendered":"SUPing the Route of the Salmon on the Penobscot River"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, 1,560 Atlantic salmon passed through the Milford Dam just south of Penobscot Nation\u2019s Indian Island on the Penobscot River heading upstream to spawn. In 2014, the salmon hit a low point with fewer than 250 returning fish.<\/p>\n

Atlantic salmon leave the ocean and head into freshwater to find their natal stream to spawn. Once they\u2019ve completed the spawn they turn around and head downstream back to the ocean and repeat this astonishing feat year after year.<\/p>\n

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This summer a few of us got together to paddle a small portion of the salmon\u2019s annual journey along the Penobscot River. The paddle began with a half-mile hike into a tiny tributary in the upper watershed named Holmes Brook. A husband-and-wife duo, a mom with two kids and I made up our group of six. We share a love for all things water and have spent a fair bit of time paddling or rowing in the waters of Maine in a raft or canoe.<\/p>\n

These small tributaries and high narrow streams were better suited for stand-up paddleboards. SUPs let us access the skinnier waters but also prevented us from bringing too much stuff, which would make the inevitable portages easier.<\/p>\n