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Urgent Update - February 12, 2008

Hearing Postponed

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

The hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 13th, has been rescheduled to:

• Monday, March 3rd
• 10:00 AM
• Augusta Civic Center

Take Action!

Down-east guides call for your support in defeating this legislation. As written, the bill allows alewives to overwhelm the existing species including bass, salmon and smelt. This poorly researched plan places the livelihoods of Maine's famous Grand Lake Guides at risk.

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.

Bill Omits Critical Limits and Research

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.

These serious flaws in the legislation have not been addresses:

• The bill contains no provisions to limit the numbers of alewives allowed into the freshwater eco-systems.
• The bill contains no provisions to monitor and assess the species balance in these lakes.
• No research will be required to assure that the alewife population does no harm to the fresh water species. Available research on low-density alewife populations is not the same as research on the high density populations that this bill will allow.
• Without migration limits, and research to monitor and evaluate the situation, how will DMR and IF&W know what is happening, good or bad, let alone be able to stop potential damage should it occur?
• Without provisions for continuing research, how will DMR and IF&W assess whether an enzyme carried by alewives has been transmitted to salmonids - which could severely impact survival and reproductive rates.

Alewives compete directly with smallmouth bass and played a major role in destroying a high-quality bass fishery at Spednik Lake in the 1980s. Now twenty years after alewives were blocked from Spednik, the bass are still in recovery.

Take Action!

Attend the Re-scheduled Public Hearing

• Augusta Civic Center
• Monday, March 3rd
• 10:00 AM

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.