BETHEL — Get ready for a new look to Maine’s open water and ice fishing law book.
Unlike last year’s two-year book, the new book goes into effect Monday, April 1, and runs through Dec. 31. It has a few minor changes in laws. But the rule book doesn’t look anything like previous editions. It looks like, well, a glossy magazine.
There’s also a digital edition and a PDF version for offline viewing.
In its longstanding quest to give anglers an easier-to-read-and-understand fishing law book, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials have switched to a high-quality regulation guide format.
That’s thanks to a unique partnership with J.F. Griffin Publishing LLC, an award-winning publishing house that specializes in producing state fish and wildlife regulation books.
Anyone visiting most town offices and places where fishing licenses are sold, can find one now.
State fisheries biologist Francis Brautigam said recently that the new look has been well received by anglers, so far.
“They love the large size, they like the fact that we’ve got articles in there, and we’ve got a lot more educational information in there and people really enjoy that,” Brautigam said. “I think it’s an easier read.”
Expect more changes with the 2014 Maine fishing regulations book. That should set the standard for future Maine fishing law books, he said.
“We’re still trying to make it easier for people to navigate the laws in the book,” Brautigam said.
“You know, we’ve got a really big state, we’ve got a lot of really good fishing opportunities, and as a result, we have a lot of special regulations.
“And we need to come up with a different system of presenting that so people will easily digest it, you know, less rules and regulations,” he said. “And I think the 2014 law book, based on what’s being planned right now, should do that.”
He said the new format will be similar to what other states are doing, sort of a more tabular configuration.
“So, we’ve got our fingers crossed,” Brautigam said. “We hope this next version is going to be much easier to digest.”
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- Maine’s new fishing regulations book, effective Monday, April 1, through Dec. 31, has a new easier-to-read-and-understand look: a high-quality magazine format, complete with articles by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
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