Just 520 salmon return to river in Maine

BANGOR, Maine (AP) – Maine’s Penobscot River is on track to see the fewest Atlantic salmon in recent years, state officials said.

According to a trap count report provided by the Maine Department of Marine Resources on Aug. 23, 520 salmon had passed through the Milford and Orono dams this year.

Returning salmon are hampered by hydroelectric dams on the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers that reduce their ability to reach spawning grounds upstream.

The total is the fewest fish counted, as of the same date, in four years and is the fourth-lowest total since 2000, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Depar...