Legislature Considers Hatchery Commission Recommendations

by George Smith

            SAM’s bill to keep alive the report and recommendations of the Hatchery Commission received a good hearing from members of the legislature’s Fish and Wildlife Committee on April 5. 

LD 1039, a Resolve Regarding Hatchery Commission Recommendations, requires the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to report to the legislature’s Fish and Wildlife Committee the department’s plans to implement the recommendations of the Hatchery Commission, and to provide regular progress reports on the implementation of those recommendations.  Here is SAM’s testimony on this SAM bill.

SAM’s Testimony

            Maine’s Hatchery Commission had a long title and a longer agenda of issues.  Created in 1999 by the legislature, it was called the Commission to Study the Needs and Opportunities Associated with the Production of Salmonid Sport Fish in Maine.   You see why we simplified it to Hatchery Commission.

The Commission existed long enough for one of its chairs, Bruce Bryant, to move from the House to the Senate, serving first as the House chair of the Commission and later as the Senate chair, for its initial Senate chair, Leo Kieffer, to be term limited out of the legislature and return to the Commission as a special legislatively appointed private citizen member, and for Representative Thom Watson to finish the job as House chair of the Commission.  All of our Commission chairs served very ably, as did the Commission’s other members.

            In my package of information I’ve included a list of the Commission members listed in the final report – most of us who served came to the conclusion that the Commission would never actually end, so we were relieved when a final report was published in 2002.   We should have known better.  The final report, published in November of 2002, was not really the final report, because the legislature extended the Commission for another two years, resulting in a series of additional recommendations issued in June of 2004.  And finally, we were done after four and a half years of work.

            The Commission met 15 times between September 1999 and November 2002, and four more times before we were finally gaveled to adjournment.  We worked hard, and we don’t want our findings and recommendations to be forgotten or neglected.

            The legislature directed the Commission to assess and evaluate recreational salmonid fish production facilities in the state, set salmonid production goals at state-owned fish production facilities over the next 15 to 20 year planning horizon – including recommendations on size and species mix, and ensure that these facilities complied with discharge license standards within three years.  It was a difficult and complex series of tasks.

            This wasn’t the first Hatchery Commission, nor will it be the last.  A 1995 Commission, chaired by DIF&W Deputy Commissioner Matt Scott, examined some of the same issues and offered a number of important recommendations covering both ocean and inland waters.

            One of the things that made the latest Commission the most significant is that the legislature actually appropriated enough money to do the job right.  The 119^th Legislature appropriated $500,000 to the Department for engineering analysis and assessment of state owned fish hatcheries. 

            FishPro Consulting Engineers & Scientists was hired to perform this work.  I have brought with me today the stack of impressive reports and other information that was provided by FishPro.

History

            Before I leave the history of this issue, let me put it in perspective for you.  Former DIF&W Commissioner Bucky Owen, with SAM’s strong support, launched a major initiative to improve Maine’s fishery resources and expand our angling opportunities, during his tenure as Commissioner.   This initiative defined Bucky’s tenure as Commissioner.

            Maine is now reaping the benefits of Bucky’s initiative to grow larger brook trout.  The latest findings show that we’ve taken many of these waters back to the size classes of fish that Maine anglers haven’t seen in a half-century.

            But we failed to complete the initiative in two important respects.  First, Bucky had to abandon his plan to grow larger landlocked salmon, in the face of stiff public opposition to his regulatory proposals.  SAM is working in partnership now with DIF&W to recreate those classic large salmon that were once available in many Maine waters.  That job remains unfinished.

            The other defeat during Bucky’s tenure came on a hatchery bond issue.  His goal was to protect our native brook trout and salmon, while expanding the production of hatchery fish to meet angler demand.   We were all devastated in 1994 when a $10 million hatchery bond issue lost in referendum by less than 10,000 votes.  227,714 voted for the bond, 237,225 against.

            So we were not able to bring along the hatchery production that was necessary to satisfy angler’s demand for fish, and to complement the drive to protect native salmonids.

            You can see the problem we were trying to address in the chart I’ve provided showing total fishing license sales from 1994 to 2003.   The trend is going in the wrong direction.  Maine is losing its inland fishing economy, although I am encouraged by the burst of activity over the last two years both here at the legislature and at DIF&W to improve our fishery resource and expand our fishing economy.

            We’re starting to get some traction here, but there is a long way to go.

LD 1039

            That is the reason SAM proposed this piece of legislation.  I want to thank Senator Bryant for sponsoring our bill, and Representatives Jackson and Watson and Senator Dow for cosponsoring the bill.

            As you know, Maine voters endorsed a $7 million hatchery bond in 2002 and that work has been completed.  The new DIF&W budget includes the extra funding necessary to operate the hatcheries at the expanded level of production made possible by the renovations and improvements.  I compliment each of you who worked to get that new funding into the Part I budget.  This is a major achievement.  And of course, we are all working right now to wedge another hatchery bond into the emerging bond package for voter consideration later this year.

            I am providing you with the Executive Summary and Recommendations of the November 2002 “Final Report” of the Hatchery Commission, along with two memos dated June 11, 2004 that include all additional Commission recommendations approved at our last meeting on May 14, 2004.

            Some of the Commission’s recommendations have been achieved.  And some have not.

            We still face serious waste discharge issues and problems with the Department of Environmental Protection.  I call your attention to Finding and Recommendation #6 in the November 2002 report, in which the Commission found that “current wastewater discharge permit levels for fish production facilities in Maine mandates excessive compliance costs to these facilities.”  This problem needs to be resolved.

            We have a long way to go to reach the Commission’s overall goal of 865,000 pounds of fish for stocking.  And DIF&W has not followed the Commission’s recommendations on species size and mix – something we spent a lot of time on.

            DIF&W has not sought funds to acquire or construct a new fish production facility in the State.  Some of us think this is very important. 

In its June, 2004 list of recommendations, the Commission requested that the department consider whether the renovation of existing hatcheries is more cost effective than the construction of a new hatchery and to report those considerations and options to the Joint Standing Committee of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife during the 122^nd Legislature.   We await that report.

The November 2002 Commission Recommendation was that “the Department seek funds from the legislature or other sources, to acquire or construct a new fish production facility in the State.”  And the Commission added a recommendation “that the Department look at the acquisition or construction of a limited-discharge fish production facility.”

I consider this to be one of the Commission’s most important recommendations.  FishPro and Commission members spent some time in looking at sites and facilities for a new state-of-the-art facility – and there are obvious advantages to a facility that does not discharge into state waters.  We found just such an opportunity in Aroostook County, and I believe that opportunity is still available.  But it won’t be available forever.

The Commission also recommended that “the Department seek contracts with private fish production facilities to supply egg, fry or fish needed to achieve the Commission’s fish production goals that cannot be produced by State-owned facilities.”
 I don’t believe this recommendation has been pursued.

We ask, in this legislation, that you require the department to report to you on its plans to implement the Hatchery Commission’s recommendations – all of the recommendations – and, on a regular basis, to provide you with a progress report.  Although the bill calls for reports every six months, we think an annual report would be sufficient.

We do this because this issue and these recommendations are critically important to our fishing future – and because a lot of taxpayer money was spent on the Commission’s work and FishPro’s report and plan.

For these reasons, we believe this legislative committee will want to maintain an interest in this work, and receive regular reports as the work progresses.  In addition, we’ll need your help and support to make sure all of the recommendations are achieved.