You have to hand it to the Downeast Maine Guides and the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association. These folks keep on fighting even after they have been knocked down.
What’s the fight about? The issue is the Federally mandated introduction of anadromous alewives into the St. Croix River watershed. For years, the Downeast guides and others were successful in their opposition to an alewife introduction. Armed with a lot of good history and scientific data on their side, they were able to prevail at the state level.
An earlier introduction of alewives into the St. Croix during the 1980s resulted in the decimation of the salmon and bass fishery at Spednic Lake. For this reason, common sense finally prevailed and in 1990 the alewives migration up river was stopped by blocking the fishways at the dams.
The setback for the Downeast guides (and the St. Croix fishery) came last year when the Maine State Legislature passed LD 72 allowing the passage of alewives into the St. Croix River Basin. This happened in spite of strong vocal opposition from the Guides Association and others in the Downeast area.
What convinced the state legislature to do a turnabout and allow the alewives passage into the St. Croix? According to Mark Gray, a member of the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association and President of Save the St. Croix Fishery, a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency, more or less influenced the legislative vote.
The arguments really have not changed. As Gray points out, the guides are not anti-alewives.”We recognize that alewife reintroduction is fine and dandy in watersheds with a history of an alewife presence, but that is not the case with the St. Croix. Before the fishways, there was no way that alewives could have ascended up river beyond three different natural barriers,” says Gray. Those barriers are Salmon Falls, Sprague’s Falls and Grand Falls Dam.
Gray’s assertion is supported by the Canadian government, the United States Geological Survey and studies by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Gray and his group are fighting to convince the Maine State Legislature to revisit this issue. They want, at minimum, a legislative action to stop the alewives migration upstream until a proper investigation of the evidence can be conducted.
In order to raise money for legal costs, the Save the St. Croix Fishery will be raffling off a fully-equipped cabin located near Grand Lake Stream. Tickets are $100 each and a maximum of 2,000 will be sold before the lucky ticket holder is drawn. The cabin is valued at $50,000. For details call Mike at 207-796-2553, or Mark at 207-299-4172. Raffle tickets are available by mail. Send a check and self-addressed stamped envelope to: GLSGA, 15 Water St., Grand Lake Stream, ME 04668.
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The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is vpaulr@tds.net. He has two books “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” and his latest, “Backtrack.”
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