SEE WHERE WE STOCKED YESTERDAY...
“Fall stocking is underway... See where we stocked yesterday...”
The statement above comes from a recent e-newsletter from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Maine can, and should, do much better than this… The state is home to the last wild native Atlantic salmon in the country, the last wild native Arctic charr in the Contiguous United States, and 90% or more of the remaining wild native lake, pond, river, and sea-run brook trout remaining in the country.
To have what Maine has in regard to wild native fish, yet see stocking as your top priority as evident by the online messaging trend is disappointing. The focus should be on wild native fish, not the propagation of stocked fish.
And directing anglers to fish that were stocked “yesterday” flies in the face of fair chase, and sound resource use and economics.
“Stocking helps maintain healthy trout and landlocked salmon populations...”
The statement above is anti-science, and works against a migration toward much-needed sustainable fisheries management. There is nothing “healthy” about stocked fish, and their presence does not “help maintain” trout and salmon populations, it creates them.
The messaging from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in regard to moving fish around is dangerously inconsistent. Do as we say, not as we do, is not the best way to encourage good behavior and discourage the illegal moving of fish around.
First Roach Pond. (Bob Mallard)
Design by Bob Mallard