Good fisheries management

To the Editor;
Bob Mallard, in a letter to the editor, once again states that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife does not fully embrace catch and release. While C&R is undoubtedly an effective management tool, there are many other options required for different situations.

Maine’s salmon and trout waters can support only so many pounds of fish; most important factors being suitable habitat, i.e. quality and temperature of the water, spawning and nursery areas and available feed. Fisheries biologists try to maintain a delicate balance so that fishing opportunity and preservation of the resource are not compromised, made more challenging by inevitable politics.

Additionally, we all should know that fisheries management is not an exact science. Potential solutions must be tried, evaluated and revised, possibly several times, to meet established goals.

It is disingenuous for Mallard to criticize biologists for stocking lake trout in Sebago and Moosehead Lakes that add fishing opportunities, as he did in an Aug. 16 article, and then blaming them for saying truthfully that C&R was the problem in those lakes because of an over population of small fish that threatened the survival of trout and salmon. As soon as C&R was eliminated in Moosehead, the brook trout population surged.

I have enjoyed fishing in Maine since 1951 and will unequivocally state that my fishing has either improved or remained consistent due to outstanding management by our dedicated professional IF&W biologists.

Joe Bertolaccini
Orrington