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Redfin Pickerel, Endangered, Elusive, & Here!
Merry Gallagher,
Fisheries Biologist, MDIF&W
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
7:00pm Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine
Merry Gallagher
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) sixth presentation of their 23nd annual Winter Speaker Series, Redfin Pickerel: Endangered, Elusive & Here!, features Merry Gallagher, Fisheries Biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. This event takes place in the Morrill Meeting Room of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick on Wednesday March 11th at 7pm.
This presentation steps through the methods, tools, and practices used for conserving rare fish species in Maine through the story of perhaps our rarest freshwater fish, the redfin pickerel. Redfin pickerel (Esox americanus americanus) are the smallest-sized members of the pike and pickerel family, Esocidae. They are commonly distributed along the Atlantic coastal plain from Florida to New Hampshire with a single, isolated northern-most population centered around Merrymeeting Bay. Although they have a moderate saline tolerance, redfins primarily inhabit heavily vegetated, smaller-sized, slow flowing, shallow freshwater streams. The ecological importance of this little fish is paramount and their history and continued presence illustrates a very interesting story for native fish conservation in Maine and may also be a portent of our aquatic ecosystem future in an era of climate change.
Merry Gallagher is a Native Fish Conservation Biologist with MDIFW’s Division of Fisheries & Hatcheries. She is a stream ecologist with over 20 years’ experience in stream survey methodology, native fish ecology, and landscape/GIS data analysis and has worked for MDIFW as a Fishery Biologist since 2001. Merry oversees current statewide efforts to survey and assess stream habitats, document wild brook trout populations, enhance aquatic habitat condition, and improve the general knowledge regarding the distribution and status of Maine's native fishes. Gallagher has diverse scientific interests centering on natural history, animal behavior, science education, citizen science, and improving aquatic ecosystem health and condition. She is Maine's representative for the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture and one of the Department’s representatives to the Northeast Fish & Wildlife Diversity Technical Committee. Merry has a B.A. in Biology from the State University of New York-Albany and a M.S. in Zoology from the University of Maine.
FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May, the second Wednesday of each month. Their April 8th presentation, “Seabrook Nuclear Plant-Still Operating, More Perilous, features Doug Bogan, Executive Director of the NH-based Seacoast Antipollution League. This event takes place 7:00 pm at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick.
Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public and supported by Patagonia, Inc. in Freeport. Visit www.fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules, video recordings of past presentations, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay.
For more information contact FOMB at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.
Sarah Stapler