Maine's Endangered Pickerel Have no Protection from Angler Harvest
Illustration by Joseph Tomelleri
“While chain pickerel are relatively common, redfin pickerel are listed as Endangered at the state level in Maine. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife designated them as such in 2006, and they are the only freshwater fish so classified, with swamp darter being the only species designated as Threatened.”
As part of his conservation guest column with Bangor Daily News, NFC Executive Director Bob Mallard chimes in on Maine’s little know endangered redfin pickerel. Found in only 1 or 2 waters in the southern part of the state, Maine represents the northeastern extreme of the native range for redfin pickerel, Esox americanus americanus.
As a result of what is likely an oversight, these unique and rare wild native gamefish have no protection from angler exploitation, or what is referred to as “take” in the world of endangered species. Whether this is impacting the population is unknown, but it would be prudent to provide them with protection from anglers to make sure we are not stressing the population.
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“For years, Maine had a 10-fish general law limit on ‘Chain Pickerel’. The regulation was changed to ‘Pickerel’ in 1983. While the former did not apply to redfin pickerel, the latter did. The 10-fish limit on pickerel stood until 2018, when it likely fell victim to IFW’s ongoing efforts to simplify our fishing rules. This effectively left redfin pickerel, an endangered species, with no length or bag limit. ”
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