maine nfc is Dedicated to THE memory of:
The late Clinton “Bill” Townsend of Canaan, Maine, Maine's foremost “fish conservationist.” Few if any have done as much for Maine’s rivers and wild native fish as Bill. And he did it quietly and without fanfare, teaching anyone who was paying attention that getting things done was more important than getting credit for doing so. No one stood taller, no one fought longer or harder and no one accomplished more. Bill's departure from this world has left a void that will not soon, if ever, be filled. Thanks for all you did Mr. Townsend...
MAINE board
Below is our Maine Board of Directors and Officers. This dedicated group of volunteers are our "boots on the ground" in Maine, home to several rare native fish including federally endangered Atlantic salmon, the last Arctic charr in the contiguous United States, and roughly 90% or more of the remaining wild native pond-dwelling and sea-run brook trout.
EMILY BASTIAN is the General Manager for Trident Fly Fishing. She is a degreed Ecologist and...
JEFF "JEFFUS" LEVESQUE was a founding member of Dud Dean Angling Society and Somerset...
PAT SUTOR has been fly fishing since he got his first fly rod at 10 years old in Western New...
LARRY BASTIAN learned to fish as a child on the small mountain freestone streams of...
BRADLEY ERDMAN has a BS in Fisheries and Water Resources Management and...
JOHN "JACK" GIBSON is a lifelong sportsman with a camp on the banks of the Kennebec...
RICHARD JOYCE is a naturalist and conservationist. He lives in midcoast Maine…
BOB MALLARD has fly fished for roughly forty years. He is a former fly shop owner and...
CASEY MEALEY is a lifelong fly fisher, Registered Maine Guide and outdoor skills instructor...
BRIAN RHEA grew up Maine where he fished for brook trout on a small trout stream in his backyard...
RICHARD "RICH" YVON grew up hunting, fishing and camping. He learned to fish in Maine...
MAINE ADvisory CounCil
Below is our Maine Advisory Council. This group of volunteers represents a veritable all-star team of subject matter expertise and hands-on experience. They work with the Maine Board of Directors to identify areas in need of attention, while providing technical assistance.
GEORGE SMITH is arguably the most recognized and influential outdoor figure in the history...
Lucas St. Clair is an avid fly fisherman and bird hunter. Born and raised in Northern Maine…
MAINE Campaigns
The following represents a summary of conservation initiatives completed by the Maine chapter of Native Fish Coalition, as well as status updates for select ongoing initiatives.
Help the Maine chapter of Native Fish Coalition raise money to place these important informational signs at Maine's 578 and counting State Heritage Fish lakes and ponds...
The Maine chapter of Native Fish Coalition (ME NFC) and Downeast Salmon Federation worked with Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR) to add a brook trout fact sheet to the Do You Know Your Catch? webpage on the DMR website…
Maine NFC Board Member Richard Joyce has put together an interactive map showing waters in need of State Heritage Fish signs…
Maine NFC just received approval for a custom State Heritage Fish sign for waters so designated located on Passamaquoddy tribal lands…
Effective November 24, 2018, the Maine Department of Marine Resources will be imposing a 25” maximum length limit on brown trout to help protect adult Atlantic salmon from accidental harvest due to species identification…
The Maine chapter of NFC has developed a portable water pumping system for use at Floods Pond in conjunction with the University of Maine’s ongoing rare Arctic charr study…
maine BLOG
Native Fish Coalition National Vice Chair and Maine Board member Bob Mallard talks about the native charr of Maine’s Baxter State Park…
The new bill entitled, “An Act To Require Biodegradable Hooks and Lures for Freshwater Fishing,” has Maine anglers riled up. This bill, presented by Senator Davis of Piscataquis, lays out a plan to ban all non-biodegradable lures and hooks…
Scientists in Maine are using DNA to try to preserve the remaining populations of a fish that lives in 14 lakes and ponds in the state and nowhere else in the continental United States…
Georges River Trout Unlimited (GRTU) welcomes Native Fish Coalition, represented by Emily Bastian and Bob Mallard, for a presentation on New England's rare Arctic charr, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., in Rockport…
Well maybe gloom of night as no one has tried it yet, but nothing else seems to keep Maine NFC volunteers from taking to the woods to protect out State Heritage Fish waters…
Illegal sales of baby eels that caused last year’s abrupt closure of Maine’s elver fishery have resulted in criminal charges for two baby eel dealers and new rules from the state proposing closer oversight of the lucrative fishery…
maine BUSINESS partners
Please support these best-in-class businesses as they have supported the Maine chapter of NFC and our wild native fish. (click logo to learn more)
BETSY BARBER has a PhD in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology…