MAINE BEACON (Maine People's Alliance) • June 22, 2020
For the Penobscot Nation, the Atlantic salmon is a cultural keystone species, or at least it was. In the twentieth century, overfishing, pollution and the damming of rivers decimated populations and limited their inland migration range. In 1972, the Clean Water Act established federal regulations for pollution in U.S. waters. The legislation outlawed unpermitted pollution discharges and allowed the EPA to create guidelines for acceptable levels of pollution in waters. But climate change’s effect on pollution isn’t the only worry. John Banks, director of the Penobscot Nation’s Department of Natural Resources, says that, when looking specifically at rivers like the Penobscot, high rates of precipitation and flash flooding are also harmful for species that call the river home, including culturally significant fish.