Sturgeon and Belfast

I was somewhat surprised by a few of the remarks made in John Holyoke’s article on sturgeon in Penobscot Bay (BDN, Aug. 2-3).

My friend, Peggy Levangie of Belfast, told me that her late husband, Dick, a onetime commercial fisherman, caught and released a sturgeon in Penobscot Bay some years ago. He was told at the time that they were not all that rare.

I was told that the Passagassawakeag River, whose mouth forms Belfast Harbor and is locally called the Passy, is an Indian place name meaning, “The place where sturgeon is caught by torchlight.” As far as I am able to determine, this is the only Native American locality which specifically names that particular fish.

Robert Fraser

Belfast