US Department of Interior - Acadia NP Fisheries Management

The following letter was in response to an inquiry I made as to why the Park Service was not holding Acadia to the same standard as other National Parks in regard to fisheries management. 

Specifically I was concerned with the rampant stocking of lakes and ponds, including nonnative species, the use of live bait, and the lack of protection provided for rare wild native sea-run brook trout.  

The quote below is quite telling and quite disappointing.  To fail to come to an agreement as to how to manage the parks fisheries resources with the state for over twenty years is troublesome. 

“Since 1995, the park has met with and expressed concern about fisheries management to IFW. During this twenty year period, NPS drafted several different Memoranda of Agreements for consideration by the agencies to articulate a plan for mutual management and conservation of fisheries and other resources in the mid-coast area of Maine. While none of these draft versions were signed, the NPS believes that a signed Cooperative Agreement would clarify the respective management and regulatory authorities, goals and objectives, and the roles and responsibilities of the NPS and the State of Maine in conducting this collaborative fisheries conservation program. While the NPS and IFW have many areas of mutual interest in protecting fisheries resources, a constructive management framework remains to be agreed to and put into operation. ”