View images of the Penobscot river, and the dams which will be affected by this project.
On May 26, 1826 a headline in the Kennebec Journal told of a "A true fish story, Seven thousand shad and nearly a hundred barrels of alewives, taken in Eddington last week by Luther Eaton, Esq. at one haul". Since that day Mr. Eaton cast his net into the Penobscot, the flow of New England's second largest river has been checked by dozens of power-generating dams. All manner of migratory fish, like salmon, shad and alewives haven't been able to travel upstream, and many species are now endangered.
For years environmentalists and power companies have argued over the future of fish in the Penobscot. This week, they announced an unprecedented out of court settlement that has citizens paying the power company for the right to remove two dams and bring back the fish.
