I am writing to express my concern over the vast number of smelts that are being harvested from many lakes and ponds in Maine.

As you may know, in Maine, smelts are the most important food to landlocked salmon and, to a certain extent, the trout population. The overharvesting of smelts through the ice threatens the salmon species in Maine and contributes to the plight of other fish, like the brown trout, larger brook and rainbow trout.

My principal concern is the use of dipnetting and dropnetting to harvest smelts – a practice generally used by baitfish dealers. Does the everyday fisherman know that this practice may be going on at their favorite pond?

Currently, the holder of a smelt wholesaler’s license may use a dipnet, a dropnet, a liftnet or a bagnet to take up to 8 quarts of smelts in a 24-hour period from specific inland waters designated by the state. Without adequate numbers in our inland waters, salmon and the trout species’ growth and body conditions will suffer, significantly.

It is imperative that we take a hard look at our smelt harvesting regulations and look to implement a statewide requirement that lines and hooks be used when fishing them rather than allowing harvesting with dropnets. This requirement is in force on several of central Maine’s lakes, and it is my hope that a similar requirement will be imposed on all lakes and ponds as means of better management.

Rufus W. Cox, Jay