205 Church Hill Road, Augusta ME 04330

207-622-5503

SAM’s Testimony on LD 1131, An Act to Recognize and Protect the Native Eastern Brook Trout as Maine’s Heritage Fish

by George Smith

            The book “Brook Trout” by Nick Karas is my Brook Trout bible.  Please hear these words from Chapter 88, titled Wild Brook Trout Fishing Today.

            “Despite the general deterioration of today’s environment over a great part of the brook trout’s original range, there’s still excellent fishing, some of it on a par with that once possible in Maine, Nipigon, or the Laurentides.  However, one has to travel north of the 49^th parallel to find it.  Several ecological niches in Canada allow brook trout populations within them to exhibit all of the potential characteristics of the species, those that few anglers in the United States ever see unless they leave their home waters.”

            Don’t those words tug at your heart – even perhaps cause a little feeling of collective guilt – to hear that, north of the 49^th parallel, fishing for native brook trout still exists, “some of it on a par with that once possible in Maine.” 

            In his introduction, Karas reports that, “Our typical domestic trout waters are no longer the realm of the true, wild brook trout of our forefathers.  Most brook trout we encounter today are domesticated, the products of fish culturists whose goal was to provide as many brook trout as possible, as large as possible, in as short a time as possible, and with the least possible investment.

            “Small populations of wild or heritage brook trout still exist today in some states, but the fish are often stunted because of overcrowding and forced to eke out a living in less fertile habitats, often higher in elevation, in the dendritic beginnings of watersheds where they’ve been driven by the introduction of exotic trout, browns and rainbows.”

            We’ve heard remarkable testimony today.  I am grateful to the members of SAM’s Fishing Initiative Committee who prepared testimony for this bill –without question SAM’s most important bill of this legislative session.  I am also grateful to Senator Chandler Woodcock for his sponsorship of our bill, for his eloquent testimony, and for the work he’s put into this legislation.

            And I appreciate the effort of the department to react in such a favorable manner to our initiative.  Something very special is happening here today.

            A century of neglect for Maine’s heritage fish is coming to an end – right here, right now.  Together, we’ve made a lot of mistakes in the last century of fisheries management.  There’s no one to blame.  We all thought we were doing the right thing.  But we know better now and it’s time for the mistakes to stop.

            I believe we have agreement on the key elements of SAM’s proposal:  the recognition of the native brook trout as our state’s heritage fish; the critical importance of protecting these fish; the need to prevent the stocking of the waters that still hold these native fish; and the important role that the legislature can and should play in achieving this goal.

            First, we shall make sure these waters are not stocked.

            Then, we can talk about the next important steps in protecting and managing these fish.

            I hope that you will agree with us that the waters named in this bill should be governed by this no-stocking decision, regardless of DIF&W’s recent research on historical stocking activities.  Please – draw the line here, with this list taken from DIF&W’s own 1996 policy.  Don’t reduce this list any further.

            And I hope you will continue to work with SAM and DIF&W to identify and name other waters – some of which were stocked only once – so that they may be added to this no-stocking list in the future.

            We’ve started down a new road today – and there will be no turning back – with your help and support.  This is the last stand for Maine’s native brook trout.  We cannot falter in our determination to protect these heritage fish.

            When I was a boy, I discovered those dark darting shapes of Maine brookies in a small swift brook deep in the woods up over the back side of High Street in Winthrop.  I lived in that forest, fished for those trout, shaped my character there and found my passion for the outdoors.

            Today, that brook flows through a rocked-lined man-made ditch in the middle of a housing development.  My trout are long gone.

            This bill does nothing for my trout or my boyhood brook.  But other boys, in other places, may experience the excitement that only a native brookie can bring, thanks to the work we’re doing here today.   And we can leave this session knowing we’ve accomplished something of lasting value, something extraordinary in its impact on the future of our environment and our state.