NFC ED Bob Mallard chimes in on part ii of recent Maine bass proposal...
“No one wins the nonnative fish game, at least in the long run. While one user group might win the battle, they will eventually lose the war. Trout and salmon anglers lose out to bass, bass anglers lose out to pike, and pike anglers will likely eventually lose out to muskies if they continue to spread.”
As part of his outdoors guest column in Bangor Daily News, NFC Executive Director Bob Mallard supported Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s recent proposal to prohibit bass tournaments in the native fish rich North Zone, a position also supported by the Maine chapter of NFC.
Part of a large regulation change package that also looks to remove special protective regulations on nonnative bass from 14 waters in the North Zone which Bob previously wrote about, these changes look to align management with Maine's 2021–2035 Statewide Fisheries and Hatcheries Management Plan.
“It’s pretty tough to argue that allowing people to promote and profit from what are mostly illegally introduced bass in the North Zone doesn’t send the wrong message.”
While submitted as “North Zone Bass Tournaments: A(nother) Step in the Right Direction…,” the article was published as “Why banning North Zone bass tournaments is a good thing,” something you have to learn to live with when you write for any media that you do not control.
“Allowing tournaments promoting nonnative bass where the general law encourages their harvest, and signs at boat launches discourage moving bass and other fish around is inconsistent and confusing at best.”
MDIFW will be under significant pressure from the bass community, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, state legislators, and bass anglers to back off. This will be a real test for Commissioner Camuso, and the management plan that was developed with input from the public.
When we promote nonnative bass over wild native brook trout, rare Arctic charr, and endangered Atlantic salmon in one of the last strongholds for such in the nation, can we really call ourselves stewards of the resource?
Maine has already surrendered the South Zone to the stocked and nonnative fish lobby, do we really want to surrender the North Zone as well?