Bob Mallard is the former owner of Kennebec River Outfitters and a Registered Maine Fishing Guide. He is a writer, author and executive director of the Native Fish Coalition.

A recent article in another paper about bucket biology, anglers moving fish around, caught my
attention. Not because it was inaccurate, but because it told only one side of the story.

While bucket biology is a huge problem, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
(MDIFW) moves non-native fish around regularly and has for generations. Although no one talks about it, these legal acts have negatively affected wild native fish in the same ways that illegal bucket biology has.

Consider the state-sponsored introduction of non-native landlocked salmon and smelt into the
Rangeley Lakes, which contributed to the demise of the largest native Arctic charr population in
the contiguous United States. And it was the state that introduced non-native lake trout into Sebago Lake, one of only four native landlocked salmon waters in the state and the namesake
water for the species, Salmo salar sebago.

According to MDIFW, there are 202 lakes and ponds with “principal,” or fishable populations, of landlocked salmon. Salmon are “present” in another 113 waters. This represents a roughly 75-fold increase in landlocked salmon populations in Maine, not including rivers and streams. Most are the result of legal introductions, not so-called “bucket biology.”

Neither brown nor rainbow trout are native to Maine. Per MDIFW, browns are “principal” in 123 lakes and ponds and “present” in another 46. Rainbows are “principal” in 23 lakes and ponds and “present” in another six waters. And this does not include rivers and streams. Most brown trout and rainbow trout found in Maine are the result of state sponsored stocking or introductions.

MDIFW stocks non-native landlocked salmon in Moosehead Lake on top of wild native brook trout and lake trout, both of which are already stressed due to illegally introduced white perch and smallmouth bass. Smelt introduced to feed salmon have negatively affected the native lake whitefish, the primary forage for lake trout.

Pierce Pond in Somerset County, arguably the finest big lake wild brook trout fishery east of Rangeley and south of Moosehead, is stocked with non-native landlocked salmon by MDIFW. While defended as a way to take harvest pressure off the wild native brook trout, the salmon put additional stress on them via competition for food and space.

Green Lake in Ellsworth is one of just four native landlocked salmon lakes in the state, one
of just 12 remaining native Arctic charr waters in the contiguous United States and the only
water in Maine where salmon and charr coevolved. MDIFW is stocking non-native lake trout, the species blamed for the demise of Arctic charr in New Hampshire and Vermont.

In 2003, MDIFW moved non-native smallmouth from Meddybemps Lake into Fourth Machias Lake to bolster the fishery. This was done with trucks used to stock trout in other waters. Both lakes are located in endangered Atlantic salmon watersheds.

Nobody wins when we move fish around. While you may have it your way for a period of time, often someone comes in later and introduces their favorite fish, doing to your fish what your fish
did to what was there before.

We have seen it over and over again — non-native salmon introduced over native brook trout, non-native bass introduced on top of native brook trout and landlocked salmon and non-native pike introduced on top of nonnative bass.

Per MDFIFW, “Illegal [fish] introductions can destroy native fish populations and alter the
ecology of Maine’s waters, FOREVER!” Doing so, or even being in possession of live fish,
excluding baitfish, without a permit is a Class E crime punishable by a fine from $1,000 to
$10,000 and the possible suspension of all MDIFW licenses and permits.

By doing what it is telling the public not to do, MDIFW is sending mixed messages.
It’s another example of, “Do as we say, not as we do.” And when anglers see illegal fish
introductions as bad, but legal introductions as good, or not bad, we are part of the problem.