As Atlantic salmon smolts go, Nicky was not a very popular little guy. His tankmates hated the undersized guy and made life difficult. They beat him and bullied him, and eventually, his keepers say, Nicky just learned to hide in a corner and avoid his tormentors.

On Thursday, Peter Steenstra, an educator for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Bradley Moore, the superintendent of Bangor’s wastewater treatment facility, could laugh about little Nicky’s tough formative months.

Nicky finally swam free.

As the culmination of an interesting eight-month public relations effort, Nicky, the clear runt of the litter, gained some measure of freedom from the nine other smolts as all were released into the Penobscot River at the Eddington Salmon Club.

Nicky and his tankmates spent the fall and winter months growing in a tank at the wastewater treatment facility’s office and swimming around in a mix that included treated wastewater.

“It’s our effort to demonstrate to the people who pay for the wastewater treatment in the city, all the sewer users, that this is really the result of what happens at the plant,” Moore said. “We discharge treated wastewater to the river and it has obviously positively affected the river.”

That wasn’t always the case, of course.

Ask any Bangor or Brewer resident of a certain age about the river they grew up near, and they’ll tell you a different story.

Ugly. Discolored. Smelly. Dirty. Those words will often crop up.

So will these: Basically an open sewer.

That was then, and this is now: Over the past generation or so, wastewater treatment plants have helped to rejuvenate the river. By treating the wastewater and cleaning it up, the river itself has become much cleaner.

“The process works,” Steenstra said. “And if we take the initiative to be good stewards of our ecosystems, of our rivers or streams, then we can have wildlife. It’s as simple as that.”

To prove that point, staffers at Bangor’s wastewater treatment facility procured 10 yearling smolts from Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in Orland back in September.

Then they set up a tank in the office, fed the fish, and watched what happened as those fish grew to about 8 or 10 inches in length.

“We have folks who come in to pay their bill and they’ll stand there for five or 10 minutes, just watching the fish,” Moore said. “There are folks who have come down just because they’ve heard about it.”

In addition, other wastewater treatment officials from around the state have heard about Bangor’s cooperative effort and intend to replicate it in their own facilities, Moore said.

On a purely mathematical basis, 10 salmon smolts represents a minuscule portion of an ongoing restoration effort that includes millions of eggs and fry.

But symbolically, Nicky and his tormentors are worth far more than that.

That water they grew up in – and flourished in – was about 65 percent fresh water and about 35 percent treated wastewater, Steenstra said.

“The fish did beautifully, as you could see,” Steenstra said, pointing out that the 35 percent ratio of treated wastewater was far greater than anything the fish would face after actually being released into the river.

And the surprised looks on the faces of the people who came to the wastewater treatment office were exactly what Moore and the others were looking for.

“That was the point behind trying to make that connection [between clean water the fish need and the wastewater treatment that helps provide cleaner water],” Moore said. “And I think it’s really worked.”

Steenstra said that those 10 smolts serve as a reminder of what’s possible on the river and what may be accomplished as the Penobscot River Restoration Project continues to make progress.

“I think the lessons learned here will carry on,” Steenstra said. “The Penobscot River is probably a good example as one of the best success stories in the United States. People all over the United States are looking at the Penobscot River to see how it comes off, with the removal of these two dams, eventually, and the impact that that’s going to have.”

The lesson, he said, is that by making good decisions and deciding to become stewards of the ecosystems around us, we can improve habitat and make a real difference.

Fish and wildlife will benefit. Nicky and his cohorts will benefit. And so will all of us.

So though Thursday’s smolt release was symbolic, it was also a gesture that proves we’re moving in the right direction.

“We are releasing 10 smolts today. They had 100 percent success,” Steenstra said. “Nothing wrong with that at all.”

Don’t forget to eat breakfast

Today’s forecast calls for a beautiful spring day, and plenty of outdoor options are available.

Streams may be receding in some areas, and most of our local lakes and ponds are ice-free and ready for anglers.

Before you head afield this morning, you may want to consider celebrating the area’s rich history of Atlantic salmon fishing.

While not an official opening day breakfast – the season began on Thursday – it’s still early enough to call today’s event an opening breakfast, I figure.

From 6 a.m. until 10 a.m., you’ll find plenty of chow at the Penobscot Salmon Club on Route 9 in Brewer.

There will also be plenty of veteran anglers to chat with and plenty of fishing tales to be heard.

If you don’t get the chance to stop by and you want to see what you missed, you can check out the “Going Outdoors” segment that ABC-7 camera guru Dave Simpson and I put together for the station’s Monday newscasts.

You won’t able to smell the home fries cooking, but we’ll do our best to take you there, and share a few stories about the venerable old club and its anglers.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214