• Stich, Daniel S.
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

Atlantic salmon Salmo salar populations are diminished throughout their range and high marine mortality is among the drivers of the failure of many stocks to recover. A goal of salmon recovery is to maximize the number of juvenile 'smolts' entering the ocean to offset the loss of therein. Dam removals and changes to hydropower allocation in Maine's largest river, the Penobscot River, have occurred as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project (PRRP). These activities, in addition to stocking have the potential to influence the number of smolts reaching the ocean. Telemetry was used to investigate factors influencing initiation of migratory behavior, movement rates, migratory route, and survival through freshwater (FW) before and after changes to the system resulting from the PRRP, and behavior and survival of smolts during estuary migration.