State seeks comments on spring salmon season

State officials will hold an information-gathering session Wednesday evening in Bangor to hear comments about the possible risks of a spring Atlantic salmon fishing season on the Penobscot River.

Staff with the Department of Marine Resources’ Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat will present the findings of a new risk assessment about a springtime fishery for Atlantic salmon.

Public feedback from the meeting will be presented to the three-member commission that oversees Maine’s salmon restoration program. The commission will then decide whether to hold additional public hearings on the issue this fall.

The state allowed fishing for sea-run salmon on the Penobscot near Bangor last fall for the first time since 1999. The bureau is planning another month-long recreational salmon fishery near Bangor. The season is scheduled to run from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

Participating fishermen, who must purchase a special salmon license, will be restricted to using artificial flies with the barbs snipped off or flattened to minimize damage to the fish. Any salmon that is landed must be released immediately without removing the fish from the water.

But hard-core anglers continue to push for a springtime fishery when more adult salmon are in the river. At the request of anglers, members of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission directed staff to study the risks of a 30-day season in May.

The U.S. government has designated eight Maine rivers and streams as home to genetically distinct species of Atlantic salmon that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Penobscot is not among the eight listed rivers; however, federal officials are re-examining the issue.

The Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat will hold the meeting in Bangor at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5. The meeting will be held in the Department of Environmental Protection’s conference room, located in the Bangor Office Center on the grounds of the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center. The conference center is on the fourth floor.

For information, contact Norm Dube at 941-4453.