NAPLES – The first of several planned statewide informational meetings on a proposal to develop trophy salmon fisheries around the state is to be held at 7:30 p.m. today, at the Naples town office.
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fisheries biologist Francis Brautigam said Tuesday afternoon that proposed trophy management changes for Kezar Lake in Lovell and Crystal Lake in Harrison are to be presented.
Interested anglers are requested to attend the meeting to share their concerns or support of what is being called the Classic Landlocked Salmon Project, a cooperative effort between the department and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.
“In a nutshell, we want to increase the abundance of smelt,” Brautigam said.
Landlocked salmon depend on smelt for food. Competition for smelt from other fish species, like the more aggressive lake trout, he said, can reduce the health and growth rates of landlocked salmon.
“The plan is to allow salmon to grow as rapidly as they can in a six-year time frame,” Brautigam said.
Proposals to accomplish this range from suspending the stocking of lake trout in the two lakes to curtailing smelting catches. Once the objectives are accomplished, anglers are to be allowed to harvest only salmon measuring between 14 to 20 inches.
But, none of the proposals are to be advanced until public input is provided, which could force changes.
Brautigam said that these proposals only pertain to Kezar and Crystal lakes. Plans in other regions could be different.
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