Aroostook Band welcomes donation of salmon from hatchery

Friday, November 11, 2011  

The Aroostook Band of Micmacs in Maine is among several tribes that will receive a donation of salmon from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency is removing about 3,000 salmon from the Bethel Fish Hatchery in Vermont. Officials are concerned that an invasive algae species known as didymo, or rock snot, may have entered water at the facility.

But that means the tribe, and others in the Northeast, will get some extra food, just in time for its 20th annual federal recognition celebration. Salmon were once a staple of the tribal diet.

"Any time a resource like that is utilized the tribe expresses respect for the fish that gave its life to provide food," Fred Corey, the tribe's environment director, told the Associated Press.

The celebration takes place November 20. The tribe is expecting about 1,000 visitors.

"It would have been very challenging and part of it would be the cost," Corey told the AP. "Our tribe is very low-income. We don't have a lot of resources."

Get the Story:
'Rock Snot' Fear Means Salmon for Native Tribes (AP 11/10)