For World Fish Migration Day, eyes turn to restoring the Mousam River

MAINE PUBLIC • June 2, 2026

On World Fish Migration Day at the end of May, dozens of people gathered in downtown Kennebunk on the banks of the Mousam River. There were informational booths, a fly tying demonstration and live fish on hand to demonstrate the kinds of species that make the river their home. Chris Schorn, southern Maine land protection project manager for Maine Coast Heritage Trust said the 27-mile river snaking through York County is a biodiversity hotspot with a “diversity of rare, different rare, threatened and endangered species." It's also one of the most heavily dammed rivers in Maine. There are 11 dams on the Mousam's main stem, almost one every two miles. Fish trying to make it upstream halt at a series of three aging hydropower dams in Kennebunk, just a few miles from where the Mousam meets the Gulf of Maine. MCHT, along with local and state advocacy groups, wants the dams taken out and the lower Mousam restored to a free-flowing river. It's a scenario that's playing out all over Maine, on rivers big and small.