TIMES RECORD • February 11, 2026
There certainly has been enough cold weather this year to support the little village of ice shacks that has now popped up along the shores of the Androscoggin. These little shacks come and go each year, assuming the ice is thick enough, and their owners use their shelter to drill a hole in the ice and try their luck at catching the sometimes elusive smelt that swim underneath. It’s a pretty neat tradition in wintry climes like Maine. What I didn’t know until recently is that, in addition to this seasonal fishery, there were once commercial fisheries on the river as well. Populations of fish including salmon, sturgeon, shad and river herring once were abundant enough to be harvested by local fishermen and sold to nearby residents. And long before that — as long as 13,000 years ago — the Wabanaki people used to smoke fish right along the shore. Now that the new Brunswick-Topsham bridge is open, there is a whole new perspective to be had looking out over the river. There is an opportunity to rethink what the river means to the town and just how much it has to offer including a potentially abundant source of local seafood as it has in the past. ~
Susan Olcott, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association