Anglers planning to participate in Maine’s first Atlantic salmon fishery since 1999 can now buy licenses for the coming experimental season on the Penobscot River.

The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began selling Atlantic salmon licenses on Friday at DIF&W’s online site, www.informe.org/moses, and at dozens of town clerks’ offices statewide.

For the full listing of agent locations, go to: www.maine.gov/asc/recreationalfishery/index.shtml.

A license for Maine residents age 16 or older costs $15. There is no charge for Maine residents age 15 or younger or for members of Maine’s Indian tribes.

Nonresidents age 16 or older will pay $30. A three-day license for adult nonresidents is also available for $15. A license for nonresidents under 16 years of age costs $5.

Between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, fishermen will have their first chance to legally catch a sea-run salmon in a Maine river since 1999. The experimental fly-fishing season is restricted to the stretch of the Penobscot that begins 150 feet below the Veazie dam fishway and extends to the former site of the Bangor dam. Fishing will not be allowed in the pool just below the former dam site, however.

The fishery will be catch-and-release using only single-pointed, barbless flies. Salmon cannot be removed from the water for any reason.

Officials with the Atlantic Salmon Commission approved the experimental season in June after lengthy debate among biologists, fishermen and conservation groups about the potential impact of a fall fishery on salmon populations.

The number of adult salmon returning to Maine rivers has improved somewhat in recent years, however the figures are only a fraction of historic returns due to a myriad of possible causes, including dams, pollution and habitat destruction.

ASC officials retain the right to close the month-long fishery at any time to protect the fish population.

“Fishing for Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot is a pastime that should never be lost,” Richard Ruhlin, chairman of the Atlantic Salmon Commission’s board, said Tuesday in a statement. “With sound science guiding our decision, we are completely confident that this fishery will be a great success.”

Biologists had counted just over 1,000 returning adults at the Veazie Dam fishtrap as of Aug. 21, according to tallies posted on the salmon commission’s Web site. By comparison, 985 adults were counted at the Veazie trap in 2005.