CCA upcoming events
CCA's BBQ by the Bay has been cancelled - please join us at the Dockside Striper tournament instead.
This year's Dockside Striper Tournament will be June 25-28
www.docksidestripertournament.org. This is a great event- good fishing and a good time at the Captain's party, please join us.Also, look for us at:
- LL Bean Spring Fishing Expo March 21-22
- Kittery Trading Post Junefest June 19-28
Fish Passage Held Up On The Presumpscot -- Again
The deal between the State of Maine and the S.D. Warren Company (a subsidiary of the South African conglomerate Sappi) to remove Cumberland Mills Dam in Westbrook on the Presumpscot River and install fish passage systems on dams upriver from Cumberland Mills fell through this summer when the dam owners pulled out of the agreement reached a year ago. The result is that more valuable time has been lost in restoring to the Presumpscot some portion of its natural productivity of anadromous game and forage fish including river herring, American shad, and possibly even Atlantic salmon.FERC and the Maine DEP have mandated fish passage in the dams upriver from Cumberland Mills, basing their decision on suitable fish habitat and evidence of historic natural runs of various fish species. But the fish must first get past the Cumberland Mills Dam and S.D. Warren has spent years in court fighting the removal of that dam, eventually forcing the issue all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the company lost again. But Warren continues to stand with its feet in the mud.
Decisions on fish passage at non-power producing dams in Maine inland waters come under the jurisdiction of the IF&W. Two conservation organizations -- American Rivers and Friends of the Presumpscot - have petitioned IW&F to force S.D. Warren to comply with state law and to mandate the removal of the dam. CCA Maine has also joined the battle by filing intervener status. The good news is that IW&F Commissioner Roland "Danny" Martin plans to hold a hearing on the Presumpscot situation before the next state legislative session begins in January. The bad news is that S.D. Warren will again contest the need for any fish passage on the river.
Despite 10 years of losing litigation, it seems obvious that S.D. Warren plans to continue to stretch out the legal process as far as it possibly because doing so is a whole lot cheaper than removing the dam and installing fish ways upriver. That work will eventually take place. But in the meantime, access to spawning forage and game fish on the Presumpscot River isn't happening and the coastal recreational fishery in Maine is suffering as a result.
Striped Bass
The 2008 striped bass season is Maine was one of the worst ever. The scarcity of fish pretty much everywhere along the Maine coast frustrated resident and non-resident anglers as well as delivering a very low blow to saltwater guides and all others who depend on stripers for part of their income.The CCA Maine board sent a letter to Maine DMR Commissioner George Lapointe asking him to tell the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that "...the current management of striped bass...is not serving Maine fishermen well. We think ASMFC should carefully examine the multi-year decline in striper distribution and move to a more conservative system that manages [wild striped bass] not for yield but for abundance, with the goal of producing a healthy, balanced stock, inclusive of those trophy-size fish that have been in such short supply in recent years in the Northeast in general and in Maine waters specifically..."
CCA's Dick Brame reports that the ASMFC Technical Committee is now looking for input from its board as to the pros and cons of managing striped bass for yield or abundance.
Mere Point News
Seven long years after the State of Maine first proposed a boat launch in Brunswick, a new, dual-ramp facility at Mere Point is finally open, offering all-tide public access to a large expanse of Casco Bay - prime striped bass water.Opposition to the ramp from some well-funded local residents and seemingly endless deliberation held up the project. But as a longtime proponent of increasing public access to Maine's coastal waters whenever and wherever possible, CCA Maine members packed public hearings and actively participated in a multi-year public relations campaign to push through final approval of the Mere Point facility. The new state-of-the-art ramp is a shining example of the kind of public access to the Maine coast that CCA has pushed hard for over the years.
2008 CCA Maine Annual Meeting
The Coastal Conservation of Maine held its annual meeting on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at the Haraseeket Inn in Freeport.
Thanks to all who attended.
CCA Speaks out on the plight of Bluefin Tuna
HOUSTON, TX - The Coastal Conservation Association Board of Directors is calling for Atlantic harvest levels of bluefin tuna to be reduced to levels supported by science and is urging the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to require all member nations to adopt such quotas by emergency action. Read the rest of this story here - Bluefin on the Brink.Thanks for helping to make CCA Maine's 2008 Casco Bay Banquet a big hit
It was great to get out and talk fishing on a night that felt more like February than late March. A lot of folks went home with some great gear and art, and a few lucky bidders will have the anticipation of the trips they won to keep them warm until the fish show up.
Tuna Night a huge success
Thanks again to Nat & Derek from First Light Anglers and to Captain John Ford for sharing some hard-won knowledge about this new and excitying fishery.
Gill Nets on the New Meadows River
Untended gill nets used primarily by lobstermen to catch bait are indiscriminate killers of fish (including striped bass), marine birds and animals. As such, they have been banned on some Maine rivers.The gill net ban on the New Meadows River expired at the end of 2007 and the Maine Department of Marine Resources has proposed an extension, this time without any 'sunset clause' attached.
CCA Maine fully supports the DMR proposal. It is important not only as a spot regulation to stop striped bass bycatch, but as a model to be used whenever similar bycatch issues develop elsewhere in the state's tidal waters.
There will be a public hearing on the New Meadows River regulations at the Boothbay DMR facility on January 23. If you cannot attend the meeting and want to support the gill net ban, contact your local state representative(s) and voice your opinion.
Focus on access:
With your help, CCA Maine can be an even more effective advocate for access. Right now we are compiling a list of the areas most in need of coastline improvements, and we need to hear from you. Please let us know where you think Maine needs public access to the tidewater by e-mailing ccamaine@gmail.com.
President Bush Signs Executive Order to Protect Striped Bass and Red Drum
President George W. Bush signs an Executive Order to protect the striped bass and red drum fish populations Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007, at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md. President Bush is joined during the signing by, from left, Michael Nussman, president of American Sportfishing Association; Brad Burns, president of Stripers Forever; David Pfeifer, president of Shimano America Corp.; Walter Fondren, chairman of Coastal Conservation Association; U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez; U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and U.S. Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne. White House photo by Eric Draper.
You can read the text of the order on the Whitehouse webpage here