Tourism is increasingly touted as a development opportunity for coastal and rural areas affected by natural resource decline. As commercial fisheries face depletion the world over, people look to tourism to help coastal communities recover from economic crisis, but little work has been done to explore if the investment in tourism can ever replace the full human ecological value of the fishery, including its impacts on a region’s culture, economy, and environment.
In 2006, staff at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Maine Field Office initiated a partnership with Maine Sea Grant to produce content for two informational kiosks planned for the lower Penobscot River region. The Penobscot River watershed is currently the subject of an unprecedented restoration plan that will restore access to over 1,000 miles of rearing and spawning habitat for Atlantic salmon, alewives, sturgeon, and other species of sea-run fish.
Formerly known as the Spring Running, the KENNEBEC CELEBRATION is heading into its seventh year as an annual festival geared towards “Celebrating the Spring Running and Life In, On and Along the Kennebec River.” The event is free, family-friendly and typically takes place on the second Saturday in June on the grounds of Old Fort Western and the East Side Boat Launch in downtown Augusta.
Dwayne Shaw
Downeast Salmon Federation
PO Box 201
Columbia Falls, ME 04623
207.483.4336
dsf@panax.com
What is the Downeast Fisheries Trail?
The Downeast Fisheries Trail is an educational trail that showcases active and historic fisheries heritage sites, such as fish hatcheries, aquaculture facilities, fishing harbors, clam flats, processing plants and other related public places in an effort to educate residents and visitors about the importance of the region’s maritime heritage and the role of marine resources to the area’s economy. The Trail builds on these local resources to strengthen community life and the experience of visitors.