One of the wonderful discoveries I made when I moved to the Greater Bangor region was Tom Hennessey’s line illustrations and writing. As a lifelong sports person who grew up fishing, hunting and trapping, I have enjoyed Hennessey’s depictions of outdoor scenes and remembrances that have reminded me of my own outdoor experiences. But I was disappointed with what Hennessey omitted when he presented himself as a spokesperson for lost outdoor traditions in his Maine Weekend column (March 3-4, “Thoughts on changes that caused the cultural shift”).

In his column, Hennessey bemoans the attack on outdoor past times, such as fishing, hunting, and trapping, that have been such integral parts of his life and the heritage for many Mainers. He cites many reasons for this cultural shift, including the decision of many people to abandon farming in favor of more predictable wage labor found in cities and towns, Walt Disney, and transient people from away.

As this shift occurred, Hennessey believes children have been disconnected from the rural lifestyle that previous generations knew. While I agree these all may be factors in the decline of appreciation for fishing, hunting, and trapping, what I see as one of the most significant reasons is the corporate taking of our fish and wildlife resources.

I spoke in Hennessey’s hometown of Hampden recently describing my anger at the impact corporate polluters, such as HoltraChem and its predecessors, have had on the wildlife resources in the Penobscot River. HoltraChem has polluted Penobscot River sediments with the highest levels of mercury ever measured in Maine and possibly the United States. Common sense dictates this mercury, known to accumulate at ever increasing levels as it moves through the food chain, is bound to contaminate sport fish.

Fish testing conducted in a range of water bodies around the state has revealed such elevated levels of mercury that the Maine Bureau of Health advises pregnant, expecting, and nursing mothers and children under 8 to forgo eating any freshwater fish except one meal a month of brook trout or landlocked salmon.

An incredibly instructive part of my outdoor education was cleaning, preparing, and eating what I caught or shot. The ability to put food on the table is a truly rewarding experience, especially for a young angler or hunter. I was proud when my family enjoyed a meal of trout I caught in the spring or a fish smorgasbord of perch and pickerel from an ice fishing trip. Though there is a growing catch and release ethic in fishing which I personally support, my childhood education would have been incomplete if I had never skinned a bullhead or filleted a bass. Of course, there is no catch and release with hunting or in most types of trapping.

While certain times of the year I can legally take fish from many Maine waters, I can’t responsibly give most of the fish I choose to kill to my spouse or son or any woman or child who falls in the Bureau of Health advisory category. Why does HoltraChem, International Paper, Mead, Sappi or other corporate polluters emitting mercury, dioxin or equally dangerous chemicals get to decide what my family and I will eat? Is anything undermining traditional Maine rural culture more than the rendering of fish and game unfit for human consumption?

Though poisoned fish have gotten most of the attention, let’s not forget the elevated levels of cadmium found in the liver of popular game animals, deer and moose, that were reported as early as 1985. This year the Bangor Daily News reported on the findings of the Passamaquoddy Tribe that confirmed the earlier study. And lobster tomalley, considered by some a true delicacy, has even higher dioxin levels than fish immediately downstream from kraft paper mills. Nobody should eat it.

I hope Hennessey and other traditional Mainers will work with me and others to take back what has been stolen by corporate greed and indifference. I look forward to the day when not only my son and I can enjoy the explosive strike of a smallmouth bass but also savor a shoreline meal of fresh fish without worrying that we might be ingesting toxic chemicals that could kill us.

I took my son, who just turned 3, ice fishing for the first time this past December. We had a fair number of flags and caught several pickerel and one perch, a good start for what I hope will be a lifelong activity that he will always enjoy. But I can’t muster the enthusiasm to take him more this season knowing that most of the fish we would catch would be unsafe for him to eat. Though the trip is a positive memory for him, how saddened I became recently when he was pretending to ice fish in our kitchen with his whiffle bat and said, “Daddy, I caught a pickerel but I have to get the mercury out!”

I look forward to the day when my son and all people can eat our fish without concern. That is the heritage I want to regain from the corporate thieves who stole it.

John Dieffenbacher-Krall of Hudson is executive director of the Maine People’s Alliance.