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Membership News - February 29, 2008

* * * Public Hearing Notice * * *

Public Hearing on LD 1957 - March 3

"An Act to Restore Diadromous Fish in the St. Croix River"

There will be a public hearing about this legislation on:

• 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.

This Bill does not return the environment to historical conditions. Debate still continues as to whether alewives ever had free run into these watersheds. In addition, many of these waters are completely different habitats and eco-systems that they were 160 years ago when new dams greatly increased the size and depth of these lakes.

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 - despite biologists' recommendations that the numbers be limited.
• 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.

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 unlimited runs of 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!

Attend the 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

Contacting Your Legislator

For your local Legislators' contact info, please check the following links:

Representatives and Senators Listed by Town:

http://janus.state.me.us/house/townlist.htm

Email Addresses for your Representative:

http://janus.state.me.us/house/e_mail.htm

Email Addresses for your Senator:

http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate/senators/email/maillst.htm

Download spreadsheet of Senators addresses, phone numbers and email addresses:

http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate/senators/email/Senators.List.xls

For more information about LD 1957, click these links to read MPGA's

• December Newsletter
• February Newsletter
• February 8 email newsletter.

Visit the MPGA Website for more news and info.