State institutes new trapping restrictions

State wildlife officials quickly implemented new restrictions on trapping aimed at ending a legal dispute over the federally protected Canada lynx.

The new restrictions will be in place when the trapping season opens on Oct. 14.

On Friday, members of the advisory council to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife unanimously approved a ban on larger leg-hold or foothold traps throughout northern Maine. Under the new restrictions, trappers in the northern part of the state also will be prohibited from using live cage traps with openings larger than 13 inches by 13 inches.

The new restrictions were part of a settlement agreement approved last week between DIF&W, several sportsmen’s groups and Animal Protection Institute, a California-based group that was suing the state in U.S. District Court.

API had alleged that the state was violating the Endangered Species Act by permitting trapping techniques that could inadvertently snare Canada lynx, which are listed as a threatened species. At least 34 lynx have been caught in traps in Maine since 1999. Two of those cats died as a result, and two had to be rehabilitated.

As part of the court settlement, DIF&W agreed to ban all foothold or leg-hold traps with an inner jaw spread of 53/8 inches or larger. The restriction will primarily affect coyote trappers, according to a representative of the Maine Trappers Association.

The department also agreed to codify a list of policies that already were in place, such as minimum distances between bait and traps visible from above and maintaining a 24-hour hot line where trappers can report when they have accidentally caught a lynx.

The new rules will cover trappers in wildlife management districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11, which cover all of Aroostook County and the northern portions of Piscataquis, Penobscot and Somerset counties.