Join us for the 2010 CCA Maine Fall Banquet & Fundraiser
With lots of silent and live auction items available as well as a bunch of raffle prizes, this banquet is your chance to get some truly incredible deals while helping to support marine conservation and saltwater recreational fishing in Maine.
Member Ticket (includes 1 year membership in CCA):
Associate Member Ticket (Intended for someone in the same household as a full member):
ASMFC Finally Cuts Bait
Committee moves forward with addressing management targets for menhaden
At its meeting last week in Washington DC, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) directed its Menhaden Technical Committee to develop new options for managing menhaden more like a critical forage species than a fish to be industrially harvested. A move that many East Coast anglers would say is long past due.
"Only in Bizarro World can a stock reach the lowest point in its recorded history and the reference points used to manage that stock still indicate that all is well and it is not overfished nor is overfishing occurring," said Richen Brame, CCA Atlantic States Fisheries director. "When the reference points you are using allow the stock to decline continuously since 1984 from an estimated 186 billion fish to 18 billion and no management action is contemplated, much less triggered, then you need a different set of reference points, and that's what the ASMFC has directed the Technical Committee to do."
Much of the debate over menhaden centers over its industrial harvest in Chesapeake Bay, not only the primary spawning ground on the East Coast for prized gamefish like striped bass and bluefish, but also where about half the entire coastal harvest of menhaden for reduction occurs. Historically, the ASMFC has managed menhaden for yield to satisfy its role as an industrial fish rather than abundance. CCA has long argued that menhaden's critical role as a forage species for apex predators meant that every single menhaden has importance as a prey item for other fish that are greatly valued by anglers.
"This is a forage species and its abundance is extremely important, not only to maintain the population but also to serve as food for everything else," said Kevin Smith, president of CCA Virginia. "For the main prey item in the Chesapeake Bay to be at its lowest level ever is a potential catastrophe for the gamefish that depend on them. All the signs indicate that something is clearly wrong and managers should have acted before now, but we are relieved to see them finally moving in this direction."
The status of menhaden has taken on more significance with the prevalence of Mycobacteriosis infections among striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. The first reports of Mycobacterium-infected striped bass in the Chesapeake date back to 1984 and today more than 70 percent of bass display Myco lesions. There is growing evidence that a lack of suitable forage, especially menhaden, has stressed the fish and made them particularly vulnerable to the fatal disease.
"The stock has been declining for over 25 years and we still allow thousands of metric tons to be harvested every year," said Scott McGuire, chairman of the CCA Maryland Government Relations Committee . "Managers have to realize we can't continue to manage menhaden as we have in the past, and expect different results. It is long overdue, but we applaud the ASMFC for beginning this process."
Maine's Saltwater Fishing Registry
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Dick Anderson receives Lifetime Achievement Award from CCA Maine
For more than 50 years, Anderson's conservation work has had a major impact on the health of Maine's marine resources, making the outdoors a better place for all of us.
FREEPORT, Maine, December 8, 2009 -- As a passionate outdoorsman and conservationist, Dick Anderson enjoys digging for surf clams, casting to shad and striped bass on a running tide, calling turkeys into shotgun range, or leading Audubon cruises to study bald eagles on the Kennebec River. But for more than 50 years, most of Anderson's waking hours have been spent addressing Maine's most pressing marine resource problems and doing so as a volunteer.
In recognition of his longtime and enthusiastic devotion to marine conservation, Anderson was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Coastal Conservation Association-Maine (CCA-Maine) during that organization's annual meeting on Monday December 7th at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport. Pat Keliher, Director of the Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries & Habitat, Department of Marine Resources, presented the award to Anderson.
"Conserving Maine's natural marine resources is what really motivates Dick Anderson," Keliher said in his presentation remarks. "And when this exuberant man gets behind a cause, it is next to impossible to slow him down. He has worked on very complicated issues like fish passage, habitat protection and netting regulations, and he has been instrumental in or directly responsible for some of the most important marine resource decisions in Maine over the years."
"Dick Anderson's professional credentials are certainly impressive, but he also has a special innate ability to get those around him fired up about a cause," Keliher continued. "One of CCA-Maine's greatest accomplishments was the removal of the Smelt Hill Dam on the Presumpscot River. Although that battle dragged on for almost five years, Dick Anderson worked tirelessly to rally the troops and promote the project goal of restoring diadromous fish to a river that was nearly destroyed by 200 years of industrial use. It was Dick Anderson at his best - not giving up until the dam was finally breached."
About Dick Anderson
A native of Brockton, MA., Dick Anderson graduated from the University of Maine in 1957 with a BS in Wildlife Conservation. During his long career in conservation, he was a fisheries biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Executive Director of the Maine Audubon Society, and Commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation. He is the founder of the International Appalachian Trail and currently serves as president of the Maine chapter.
Anderson was a co-founder of CCA-Maine in 1991 and became the organization's first executive director. He played major roles in implementing Maine's initial menhaden netting ban in the Presumpscot River and in securing passage for diadromous fish up the Presumpscot through removal of the Smelt Hill Dam. Anderson also led the charge to achieve game fish status for American Shad in Maine's tidal rivers and successfully campaigned for bait netting regulations to help stop the indiscriminate killing of striped bass and diving birds on the Kennebec River. As a young fisheries biologist working for Maine IF&W, Anderson was the first person to expose the negative effects of DDT spraying on landlocked salmon in Sebago Lake.
During the Anderson Award ceremony, a check for $1000 was presented to the Maine Department of Marine Resources for striped bass tagging efforts on behalf of CCA-Maine and the Yarmouth Boatyard as a result of proceeds generated from this past summer's Royal River Striped Bass Tournament.
ASFMC Denies Increase in Commercial Striped Bass Harvest
Anglers rally to defeat proposal for commercial sector to kill more fish
Coastal Conservation Association commends the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) for denying a proposal to increase the commercial harvest of striped bass at its meeting this week in Newport, Rhode Island. The proposal would have allowed commercial fishermen to add at least half of their uncaught commercial striped bass quota to their quota for the following year. Many anglers from CCA Maine made the journey to Newport to express their concern over the status of this important fish, and their voice made a difference."The Striped Bass Board understands that anglers at the north and south of the striped bass range are not seeing the numbers of fish they saw even just a few years ago," said Richen Brame, CCA's Atlantic States fisheries director. "There is cause for concern and we commend the ASMFC for taking a conservative approach."
In its formal comments before the ASMFC against the proposal, CCA cited several disturbing trends in the striped bass fishery, including a dramatic decrease in the number of striped bass caught and released by recreational fishermen, particularly in the northeastern states of New Hampshire and Maine, the prevalence of the fatal disease Mycobacteriosis among the Chesapeake Bay spawning stock, and a Fish and Wildlife Service annual survey that encountered the fewest striped bass in the survey's history.
"While officially the stock is not overfished and not undergoing overfishing, there are signs that the overall abundance is declining," said Brame. "The proposed action to allow the commercial industry to take more fish was not a remedy for any of the problems we are seeing with striped bass. Increasing abundance is what will fix those problems."
While the motion was defeated by a vote of 8-6, the margin of the victory means recreational anglers will have to maintain vigilance at the ASMFC to protect the recovery of striped bass.
"After the vote on the original motion, there was immediately another motion to allow the commercial sector to rollover 25 percent of their uncaught harvest to the next year, which was also defeated," said Brame. "We will continue to see efforts like this and it was very encouraging to hear Board members remark on the number of comments they received against this proposal from the public. Our members will have to be ready to stand up for conservation."
The following states voted against the rollover proposal: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Voting for the proposal were Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, North Carolina and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Fish and Wildlife Service abstained.
CCA Maine Comments on Rollover of Commercial Harvest
Comments to Draft Addendum II to Amendment 6 to the Atlantic Striped Bass Interstate Fishery Management Plan
The migratory striped bass is the primary recreational species in Maine's coastal waters and is actively pursued by some 225,000-plus resident and non-resident saltwater anglers annually. The impact of the striper fishery on many parts of Maine's economy is significant and diverse with a direct seasonal (out-of-pocket) expenditure by recreational fishermen in excess of $20 million - a figure which does not include money spent on tackle, boats and motors, marina fees, etc.So it is more than alarming to point out that the recreational catch of striped bass in Maine waters has plummeted 50 percent over the nine year period from 2000 through 2009. Estimated catch statistics from that period show a precipitous drop from well over 1 million fish in the year 2000 to about 500,000 in 2008. The 2009 season has been at least as dismal.
Recreational striper fishing reports from elsewhere in the northern and southern extremes of the fish's Atlantic Coast range also show steady and serious catch shrinkage over the past few seasons.
In the face of this obvious decline in striped bass abundance, CCA-Maine believes that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's management goal for striped bass should not be maximum sustained yield. Instead, stripers should be managed primarily for recreational fishermen with abundance, healthy size and age structure being the key conservation goals.
CCA-Maine is thus strongly opposed to any rollover to a subsequent year of uncaught commercial striped bass quotas anywhere along the Atlantic Coast. We support "status quo" as outlined in ASMFC Management Option 1 - no unused coastal commercial quota rollover. Instead of even considering a rollover, ASMFC should immediately roll back commercial quotas coast-wide until striped bass populations can be proven to be healthy again.
CCA Opposes Proposed Rollover of Commercial Harvest
Anglers highlight important warning signs for the conservation of Atlantic striped bass
Recreational anglers are opposing a plan currently before the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that would increase commercial striped bass harvest. The proposal would allow commercial fishermen to add at least half, and possibly as much as all, of their uncaught commercial striped bass quota to the commercial quota for the following year. This unusual move could negatively impact the conservation of this important species at a time when the continuing recovery of the stock is in question.
"Many factors suggest that the striped bass stock may be in decline, so this is clearly not the time to be figuring out how to allow the commercial sector to kill more fish," said Richen Brame, Atlantic States Fisheries Director for Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). "This time would be better spent trying to figure out what is going on with the stock and identify the causes for the decline. We should be pursuing a precautionary strategy, not loosening the harvest regulations for the commercial sector."
In its formal comments before the ASMFC against the proposal, CCA cited several disturbing trends in the striped bass fishery, including a dramatic decrease in the number of striped bass caught by recreational fishermen, particularly in the northeastern states of New Hampshire and Maine, the prevalence of the fatal disease Mycobacteriosis among the Chesapeake Bay spawning stock, and a Fish and Wildlife Service annual survey that encountered the fewest striped bass in the survey's history.
"We should not be trying to increase harvest of this valuable resource; we should be expressing concern about its long-term health and viability," said Charles A. Witek, chairman of CCA's Atlantic States Fisheries Committee. "Striped bass have been the crown jewel of ASMFC's fisheries management program. It appears now that some of that luster is fading and precautionary management is needed to prevent any further deterioration of the stock. At a time when we should be critically reviewing the next steps to conserve this species, the ASMFC is trying to maximize commercial take."
You can click here to see the comments CCA formally submitted to the ASMFC on this issue.
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