The species is endangered in the US (hundreds of thousands used to swim up the Penobscot and Connecticut Rivers before dams were put in their way).

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"No previous study has allowed the evaluation of the impact of hatchery stocking activities on Penobscot river Salmon, " said Chris Lage, a graduate student working with Kornfield on the study.

CNN: Gene study seeks 'wildness' of Atlantic salmon - October 25 1999

The problem is that the fish that formed the base of the hatchery brood stock used to replenish salmon in Maine's rivers came from the Penobscot River until 1992, when state officials began a river-specific stocking program that placed descendents only in rivers their stock came from.

CNN: Gene study seeks 'wildness' of Atlantic salmon - October 25 1999

In 2007, the roughly 1, 000 year-round residents of Vinalhaven, a long and narrow island located about 15 miles off the coast of central Maine in the Penobscot Bay, decided that building a wind farm on the island was the only way they would survive endlessly elevated electricity prices.

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