The Passing of the Angler Who Caught the Last Presidential Salmon
“In 1992, the final Presidential salmon, weighing nine and a half pounds, was caught by Claude Z. Westfall, a sixty-four-year-old fisherman, in the Penobscot River.”
On November 11, 2022, Claude Z. Westfall of Orono, Maine, passed away. Most reading this will have no idea who Claude was, what he did for wild native fish, or what he is most famous for.
In addition to his tireless work on behalf of Maine’s, and by default the nation’s wild native sea-run Atlantic salmon, Claude caught the last Presidential Salmon. In 1992, Claude presented a nine and a half pound Atlantic salmon caught from Maine’s Penobscot River to then president, avid angler, and seasonal Maine resident, George H. W. Bush. A tradition that had endured since President William Howard Taft received the first Maine salmon in 1912, it was suspended due to poor returns and a looming ESA listing.
Maine sea-run Atlantic salmon are on the ropes, propped up almost solely through stocking. Groups like Downeast Salmon Federation and Atlantic Salmon Federation are working with federal and state agencies to try to keep this iconic fish from going extinct. These groups help raise and stock river-specific strains of Atlantic salmon, remove dams and other impediments to passage, and otherwise do what they can to save the species.
