Alewives vs. Culvert Bremen, Maine

Poorly sited and under-sized culverts cause problems for fish and other aquatic creatures all around the state of Maine. Culverts are common in Maine and are used to channel streams under roads at thousands of places throughout the state where roads cross streams. As many as 90% of these prevent fish from moving upstream, something they need to do in order to escape predators, find mates and food, and escape water that is too hot. In 2009, the Natural Resources Council of Maine urged the Maine Legislature to address this problem. Ultimately, a bill was passed that will prevent these types of problems from occurring when new culverts are built for new roads.  However, replacement culverts on existing roads are a much bigger problem than new culverts, and the Legislature decided not to act on those until next year. This video captures the heroics efforts of David Wilkins from Bremen to save alewives in a stream that has, for decades, been blocked by a badly sited culvert.