Spring season would bolster salmon fishing tradition

I was one of the fishermen who was privileged to fish during the salmon season on the Penobscot River this fall. My friend Dale Carpenter and I traveled 350 miles from Vermont with the single intention of participating in the first U. S. salmon season since 1999. We had a great time and we look forward to doing it again.

If one can base the success of the season on the care and respect that the fishermen showed toward the salmon, I can tell you that the season was an unqualified success. Every fishermen I encountered, and I think I spoke to nearly everyone I met during my six-day stay, expressed two thoughts. First was a universal concern for the future of the salmon fishery on the Penobscot, and a willingness to abide any of the regulations that foster the return of a healthy salmon fishery.

Second was a desire to see a spring season. I understand and respect the wisdom of using a fall season as a first test. Like most fishermen I encountered I am aware that we must suppress our immediate and personal desires for the benefit of the fishery. This is the legacy we will leave to our children.

It would seem that a spring season would not put undue stress on the fish or the program for their restoration if it were conducted with rules and regulations much like those used in this past fall season, and given the awareness , respect and concern which seems to be universal among the fishermen. I assure you that if I were to make the trip and commitment of time only to find that the season had to be closed for the benefit of the fish, I would be greatly disappointed, but I would understand the need and I would respect the decision.

As important as the salmon are in this restoration effort I would like to point out that there is another equally important preservation issue. That is the culture and legacy of the Penobscot salmon fishermen. We came to the Penobscot as total strangers and were welcomed by the local salmon clubs as one of their own. We had not even set foot in the water when one of the local club members saw us, pulled into the lot, and offered us all the local wisdom and advice we could absorb. We spent considerable time at the Veazie club and were invited to their club dinner where we were met with the most gracious hospitality.

But I observed that nearly everyone we met was older than we are and I’m 55. Sad to say, the core of the Penobscot salmon culture is nearing the twilight years. Beau Peavy, who caught the well-documented first fish, represents the best the qualities that the fishery could hope for in its future. But there are too few of the young folks coming along.

Cultural things such as the Penobscot salmon culture depend on an uninterrupted chain of knowledge and fraternity from one generation to the next. Break the chain and what is lost can never be recovered. Who will stand and support the salmon if this is lost? Who will teach the next generation about the respect and value that salmon deserve? I say this not as one who is a member of that culture but as an outsider who was privileged to observe it for a short time.

Yes, we must do everything in our power to see to the future of the fishery, but we must also carefully preserve generations of culture before the chain is broken.

For this reason, I respectfully request that a spring season be given every consideration. The Penobscot salmon community needs an opportunity to develop the next generation and that means they need a season where the new generation has an improved opportunity to hook and maybe even catch (and release) a salmon. Fishermen, particularly the newcomers, need to feel that they have a real chance of success, and they need to see that fish can be caught, even if they are personally unsuccessful.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful folks who welcomed us with great generosity and brotherhood. Every fisherman and every representative of the Atlantic salmon community took time to offer advice, and they gave us quite an education on the extensive restoration effort. The people of the Penobscot are blessed with a magnificent river, and I look forward to the day when it will once again be the crown jewel of Atlantic salmon fishing in the United States.

Kim Kolakowski lives in Bennington , Vt.