When smelts began dying and floating ashore on one of the state’s legendary landlocked salmon waters recently, it didn’t take long for Dave Basley’s phone to start ringing.

“One guy called and was convinced that there was something wrong [with the smelts] because the birds and animals weren’t eating them,” said Basley, the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s regional fisheries biologist for Aroostook County.

The smelt die-off came on Long Lake in St. Agatha and Sinclair and was a substantial event, Basley said.

“There’s enough [dead smelts] that people have to rake them off their beaches,” he said.

The biologist was curious, but cautious, and told the caller the event wasn’t unprecedented. In fact, Basley learned, in the southern part of the state, a very similar smelt die-off was taking place on Sebago Lake.

“I told [the caller] that essentially the smelts spawned, they ran there for 10 to 14 days, and it takes a lot out of them,” Basley said.

Basley explained that smelts – the food of choice for salmon and other fish – spend most of their time in the placid waters of a lake. The trip into the flowing water of a stream to spawn can exhaust them to the point where they just can’t recover.

“Smelts are used to swimming around out in the lake with no current, and I think when they drop back in the lake [after spawning] they’re incapable of getting back on food to rejuvenate them,” he said.

The reason for the abnormally large die-off in Long Lake this year, Basley figured, was that there was also an abnormally large spawning run.

“To some extent there’s a number [of smelts] that die every year,” Basley said. “It’s just that this year there were so many more that it was more evident.”

Down in southern Maine, the same thing occurred on Sebago, and according to Region A fisheries biologist Francis Brautigam, camp owners there soon noticed a die-off.

“[The spawning run] developed into the best run we’ve seen in the last decade,” Brautigam wrote in the DIF&W’s weekly fisheries report.

His assessment of the die-off was similar to Basley’s: “The unusually large run observed this spring resulted in a proportionally larger number of dead smelts,” he wrote.

Even though Basley thought he knew what had happened on Long Lake, it can’t hurt to get a second opinion.

The state Department of Environmental Protection provided that, in response to another citizen complaint.

Sean L. Bernard, an environmental specialist for the DEP, sent a memorandum to concerned parties on Tuesday informing them that his investigation was closed. Bernard cited Basley’s opinion in his memo but also visited the lake to check the situation.

“A site visit was made to various points on Long Lake in the St. Agatha/Sinclair area on May 23 to gather more information regarding this matter,” Bernard wrote. “Deceased, decaying smelts were observed in various areas around the shore of the lake. Birds were observed eating the dead smelts during this site visit. No other species or invertebrate mortality was observed.”

That, Bernard wrote, supported the theory of a natural die-off, though he left the door open for future investigation if more information arises.

Basley said that when only one species dies, and when that mortality occurs immediately after a spawning cycle, it’s a pretty good indication that the mating ritual proved too rigorous for the fish that succumbed.

And those who may be concerned about what effect the smelt die-off may have on future fishing, biologists say there is little cause for alarm.

Smelts commonly spawn at age 1 or 2, according to Brautigam, and while some may live for six or more years, most only reach the age of 2 or 3.

In addition, many or most smelts may not spawn more than once in a lifetime, Brautigam wrote.

And Frank Frost, an assistant fisheries biologist in Aroostook County, said evidence collected there indicates that Long Lake’s prolific smelt population will continue to be strong.

“The egg deposition in the brooks was one of the best in many years, and bodes well for future fishing at Long,” Frost wrote in the DIF&W fisheries report.

Penobscot hearing held

As reported in Friday’s editions, the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission held a public hearing on a proposed fall season on the Penobscot River on Thursday.

The ASC will vote on the matter at its regular meeting on June 22, which will be held at the Eddington Salmon Club beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Interested parties can submit written comments until June 5.

Here are a few more sound bites culled from the hearing:

. From fisherman Buddy Day, who spoke in favor of the proposed season: “I’ve fished for 50 years and I have to drive to Canada to [fish for salmon now]. I’m a local native, here in the area, and I don’t want to spend my money up in Canada any more. I love the sport and I’m just in favor of [the proposed season].”

. From fisherman Ralph Keefe: “You’ve done a good job so far. You haven’t gone really quite far enough. So hopefully the support you hear here tonight for a spring fishery will help us rationalize next year [and an as yet unproposed spring season].”

. From fisherman Steve Forrest: “I’d much rather see a spring fishery … spring would be the time to have the season, but if we’re going to start, we have to start somewhere and I’m for a fall fishery, I guess, at this point.”

. From Mark Gregory of Dedham, who supported efforts to reopen the river but also longed for a spring season: “In the fall I don’t think you’ll get an accurate showing of what the fishery really is, and I would certainly think it would be great to have it in the spring. If we could go down there and fish right now, I think it would be awesome.”

. From graduate student Dimitri Gorski, who has researched salmon as part of his program of study: “I think it’s very important to understand that there is a consequence, that we are adding an additional burden to this fragile resource.”

. From the written transcript of remarks by Dr. Vaughn Anthony, a retired fisheries assessment scientist for the National Marine Fisheries Service: “I suggest we have two experimental monthly periods of fishing: One in May/June and one in September/October with very close monitoring to evaluate both period fisheries for mortality and fishing success. The first period of fishing should not take place in the fall of 2006 but in the spring of 2007. I suggest that only one fish be allowed to be landed per day per fisherman, not two.”

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.