Maine OKs catch-release salmon season this May

Anglers said Friday they are looking forward once again to fishing for Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot River this May during the revival of a spring tradition.

A roughly 4-mile stretch of the Penobscot near Bangor will be open to catch-and-release Atlantic salmon fishing annually from May 1 to May 31 under new rules approved Thursday. This spring’s opening day will mark the first time springtime fishing for sea-run salmon has been allowed on any Maine rivers since 1999.

The state has held a limited fall salmon fishery in the same area of the Penobscot for the past two years. But anglers had been pushing for a spring season because that is when a larger number of the fish are in the river to spawn.

“I think this is a great first step,” said Ralph Keef, a longtime salmon angler and member of the area’s three historic salmon fishing clubs.

Maine’s Atlantic Salmon Commission approved the spring season on Thursday after several months of study and comment from the public. The proposal had strong support from local salmon clubs but was opposed by several individuals and groups, including federal authorities.

Commission members based their decision on predictions from state biologists that a catch-and-release season would have “no measurable negative impacts” on Penobscot salmon, which constitute the last remaining sizable run of wild salmon in U.S. rivers.

“We took and weighed the information that was presented during the public hearing process … and it was unanimous to move forward,” with the spring season, said Dick Ruhlin, chairman of the three-member commission.

Fishermen participating in the spring season will have to follow restrictions similar to those of the two previous fall seasons.

Angling will be fly-fishing only using single-pointed, barbless hooks from just above the site of the former Bangor dam to just below the Veazie Dam. Each fisherman will be restricted to one salmon a day and the entire fishery would be closed once a total of 50 fish have been caught.

The commission also would have the authority to halt fishing at any time in order to protect the population.

Maine closed its rivers to angling for sea-run salmon in 1999 because of concern about declining numbers of the iconic fish, which once crowded New England rivers by the millions. Since 1999, the federal government has designated as endangered salmon populations in eight Maine rivers.

The Penobscot was not on that original list. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reviewing whether to list salmon population in the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers as endangered. Such a designation could shut down the fishery.

Ruhlin said the commission made its decision without taking into account the potential endangered listing. A longtime member of the local salmon clubs, Ruhlin predicted that the spring season would draw anglers.

“You’re going to see a lot of people coming here, and they’re not just going to be from Maine,” Ruhlin said.

The push to hold a spring fishery divided Maine’s sporting community, however.

While supporters regarded the spring season as a safe way to re-engage the public in salmon issues, opponents suggested that the Penobscot population was still too fragile to allow even catch-and-release fishing.

Just over 920 sea-run salmon were counted returning to the Penobscot to spawn in 2007.

The membership of the Maine Council of the Atlantic Salmon Federation was so divided over the issue that the council declined to take a stance either way. Likewise, the Penobscot Nation – whose members have abstained from subsistence salmon fishing for 20 years – declined to endorse or oppose the proposal.

“We didn’t think there was enough science on either side to support an appropriate and informed decision,” said John Banks, director of the Penobscot Department of Natural Resources.

Fisherman Gary Arsenault said he weighed the potential pros and cons of a spring season before ultimately deciding the proposal was a worthwhile opportunity to get people back on the river. Arsenault said he was comforted by the knowledge that there will be many eyes – both paid law enforcement and avid anglers – watching to make sure the fish are not harmed.

“I grew up in Hampden, so I’ve been on the river all of my life,” Arsenault said. “The fishermen I have been exposed to and involved with are very careful and very respectful of that animal. So when somebody takes a fish, there’s going to be a crowd and a lot of people helping.”

Keef said he probably wouldn’t fish for salmon this May. But he definitely plans to spend time on the river with others.

“I’ll be observing and helping out,” Keef said.