On January 24, the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission is planning a meeting to hear public debate on the prospects of opening up a spring catch and release fishing season for Atlantic salmon. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Holden Elementary School.
Presently, there is a short season in the fall on a short stretch of the Penobscot River near Bangor, but some anglers would like to see a spring version of that. According to Kevin Miller of the Bangor Daily News, even the biologists involved in this project are not in complete agreement.
A mortality assessment performed by state fisheries biologists determined that the proposed May fishery would pose “extremely low” risks to the fish. But even biologists at the Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat — the agency that oversees restoration and management of Atlantic salmon — have been split about whether the state should hold a spring season.
Evidently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is debating whether to add the Penobscot salmon to the endangered list. Should that happen, most conclude that it would put an end to any kind of salmon fishing on the Penobscot River.
Tom Remington
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