AMERICAN JOURNAL • March 31, 2021
The gates on the new fish ladder at Saccarappa Falls have been powered up and residents can expect to see them used for upstream fish passage starting in early June. The fish ladder, or fishway, will be in operation from May 1 to July 15 each year. Most of the fish returning to the river this season, said Friends of the Presumpscot River President Michael Shaughnessy, will migrate through the western channel, created when Sappi removed that dam as part of an agreement for federal licensing around conservation. Since the removal of the two Saccarappa Falls dams, there is now a natural channel as well as another with the fish ladder. Sappi, meanwhile, has applied to create a new corporation to oversee its assets on the river, a move that could remove any financial accountability.