A very important factor in recent catch trends is the adoption of the 200-mile 

 (320 km) limit to foreign fishing. Since its implementation in March of 1977, 

 substantially fewer foreign vessels are fishing the waters off the east coast 

 of the United States. This has resulted in increased availability of many 

 species to American fishermen. According to the National Marine Fisheries 

 Services (NMFS) figures, the overall landings of all species at 8 New England 

 ports between January and April of 1977 increased by 15 million metric tons 

 over the 83 million tons taken in 1976 (Lyman 1977). 



Sport fishing is one of the oldest forms of human recreation and is enjoyed by 

 many. The mean annual number of sport fishing licenses issued in Maine 

 between 1968 and 1971 was 240,512. An average of 145,678 of these were sold 

 to Maine residents annually during those years, which amounts to about 15 

 licenses per 100 people (MDIFW 1976). The major sport species inhabiting the 

 characterization area are listed in table 11-10. The catch for some sport 

 species in Maine waters, e.g., bluefish and striped bass, rivals or exceeds 

 their contribution to the commercial catch (Chenoweth 1977). The 200-mile 

 (320 km) limit probably has affected marine sport fishing as well. Since its 

 implementation in 1977, estimates of cod and pollock catches in New England by 

 recreational anglers have nearly doubled, but the cause has not been 

 established (Lyman 1977). 



Human activities (e.g., operating dams, log-holding ponds, and hydro-powered 

 mills) on and along the waterways of Maine have had damaging impacts on both 

 inland and anadromous fisheries. Efforts to improve and install fishways and 

 the elimination of river log drives have aided the restoration of many species 

 in several rivers. The Atlantic salmon is the fisher's prize and probably 

 best known. In 1972 along the west branch of the Penobscot River, fishing 

 opportunities greatly increased with the end of Great Northern Company's 

 pulpwood drives. The halting of log drives on the Kennebec River in 1976 

 should contribute to the recovery of that river's fishery. The Penobscot 

 River (Bangor Salmon Pool) and the Machias River reported "record-breaking" 

 rod catches of salmon in 1978. The removal or breaching of dams along these 

 waterways was a major factor contributing to these increases. The Dennys 

 River, one of Maine's smaller coastal river systems and well known for its 

 Atlantic salmon, landlocked Atlantic salmon, and smallmouth bass, has also 

 shown increased catches for the 1970s. According to Atlantic Salmon 

 Commission records, more than 800 salmon were reported taken in Maine in 1978. 

 As of August 1979, rod and trap catches were less than half of that. There is 

 considerable debate over the cause of these poor 1979 returns. Contributing 

 factors may be the extremely poor survival of young salmon (smolts) migrating 

 down to the sea in the spring of 1977. In August, 1979, fishing for Atlantic 

 salmon was officially halted for the season statewide. 



MDIFW (1976) provides detailed information on existing access for anglers and 

 on the distribution, abundance, present and projected angler use of landlocked 

 Atlantic salmon, brook trout, brown trout, lake trout, rainbow trout, rainbow 

 smelt, lake whitefish, chain pickerel, white perch, and smallmouth and 

 largemouth bass. Brown trout, rainbow trout, and smallmouth and largemouth 

 bass are not native to Maine (their introductions date back to the late 1860s) 

 but they comprise a major fishery today. MDIFW has stocked a number of lakes 

 and ponds with brown trout, brook trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, 

 landlocked Atlantic salmon, lake trout, alewife, rainbow trout, sunapee trout, 

 and chain pickerel (see appendix table 10, and "Management" in this chapter). 



11-42 



