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Urgent Alert - February 8, 2008

Guides & Sportsmen Must Attend on Wednesday!

Public Hearing on LD 1957
"An Act to Restore Diadromous Fish in the St. Croix River"

• Wednesday, February 13th
• 1:00 PM
• Augusta Civic Center

Take Action Now!

Your support is extremely important to protect Down-east guides by defeating this legislation. As written, the bill allows alewives to overwhelm the existing species and this impending ecological disaster jeopardizes the livelihoods of Maine's famous Grand Lake Guides.

Attend the public hearing, or send your comments, and demand that LD 1957 be rejected and the local economy, traditions and existing stable eco-system be protected.

Alewife Restoration Bill Threatens
Down-East Guides & Sporting Camps

The guiding industry in Washington County could be devastated by a bill sponsored by Senator Dennis Damon of Hancock.

Concern about alewives in the St Croix watershed led to passage of a law more than a decade ago mandating the closure of the fish passage facilities at the Woodland and Grand Falls dams during the annual alewife migration. LD 1957, "An Act to Restore Diadromous Fish in the St. Croix River," requires that these fish-ways be re-opened to the passage of alewives.

The world-class bass fishing in the upper reaches of the St. Croix River drainage attracts anglers from throughout North America and beyond. The land-locked salmon fishery at Grand Lake Stream is second to none. Local guides derive a major portion of their livelihood from these fisheries. It's one of the few ways to make a living in perhaps the most economically depressed area of the state.

Impending Ecological Damage

Fishing guides in that region may be forced out of business if the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is successful in their attempts to allow sea-run alewives to invade this fragile ecosystem. Alewives compete directly with smallmouth bass and played a major role in destroying a high-quality bass fishery at Spednik Lake in the 1980s. Alewives also carry an enzyme that, when transmitted to salmonids, severely impacts survival and reproductive rates.

If sea-run alewives get above the Grand Falls dam, they will not only have access to numerous waters that produce some of the best bass fishing in the northeast, but they will also migrate up Grand Lake Stream and pose a serious threat to perhaps the finest land-locked salmon fishery in Maine.

Battleground

MPGA helped defeat similar legislation in 2001, but it will be much more difficult this time around. Growing numbers of environmental extremists are obsessed with attempting to bring back the past, whether it makes sense or not and regardless of the consequences.

High-ranking officials within the Baldacci Administration, including the Commissioner of Marine Resources and the Executive Director of the Atlantic Salmon Commission have been lobbying hard to get this bill enacted. Regional IF&W fishery biologists who oppose the bill because of the potential impact of alewives on inland species will not be allowed to testify.

Take Action Now!

Attend the Public Hearing

• Augusta Civic Center
• Wednesday, February 13th
• 1:00 PM

Contact Your Legislator

Contact your local legislator, a member of the Joint Committee on Marine Resources, or one of the sponsors of LD 1957 "An Act To Restore Diadromous Fish in the St. Croix River" (click here for Legislative contact info).

Sponsored By:

Senator Dennis Damon of Hancock

Cosponsored By:

• Representative Bryant of Windham
• Representative Eaton of Sullivan
• Representative Eberle of South Portland
• Representative Koffman of Bar Harbor
• Representative MacDonald of Boothbay
• Representative Mazurek of Rockland
• Representative Percy of Phippsburg
• Representative Pratt of Eddington

Send Comments to the Committee on Marine Resources

Additional committee list and contact Info: http://janus.state.me.us/house/jt_com/mar.htm

• Senator Dennis S. Damon (D-Hancock), Chair
• Senator Dana L. Dow (R-Lincoln)
• Senator Lois A. Snowe-Mello (R-Androscoggin)
• Representative Leila J. Percy (D-Phippsburg), Chair
• Representative Herbert Adams (D-Portland)
• Representative Peggy A. Pendleton (D-Scarborough)
• Representative Edward J. Mazurek (D-Rockland)
• Representative Robert N. Eaton (D-Sullivan)
• Representative W. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay)
• Representative John F. McDonough (R-Scarborough)*
• Representative Kenneth C. Fletcher (R-Winslow)
• Representative Harold Ian Emery (R-Cutler)
• Representative Wesley E. Richardson (R-Warren)

* Ranking Minority Member

Committee Clerk: Veronica Snow (Email Veronica.Snow@legislature.maine.gov)

Committee Mailing Address:

Committee on Marine Resources
100 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0100

Visit the MPGA Website for more news and info.