Bob Mallard runs Kennebec River Outfitters in Madi Sunday, February 4, 2007

There are bass throughout the entire Kennebec River. Moosehead Lake is now listed as a bass fishery. The Belgrade Lakes are known for their pike. The Rapid River is infected with bass.

These waters represent Maine's most fabled fisheries and they are forever changed by the presence of these non-native species. Regardless of what a handful of so-called sportsmen believe, they have not been changed for the better. Non-natives displace native fish and impoverish our rivers and lakes.

That displacement has spawned a movement to protect the remaining waters of the state which are still home to native fish populations.

In the past few years we have seen stricter fines for illegal fish introductions; pet fish seized; the cessation of state-sponsored "management" of illegally introduced pike in the Belgrade Lakes; illegally introduced bass removed from the Rapid River; the use of live-fish-as-bait stopped on brook trout lakes and ponds that are home to genetically pure, native strains; and the suspension of at least one state-sponsored splake stocking program.

While illegally introduced gamefish such as pike get most of the attention, baitfish are every bit as big a problem. In fact, when it comes to numbers, introduced baitfish have harmed more fisheries than introduced gamefish. Whether it is the discovery of smelts in Big Reed Pond (one of Maine's 12 native blueback char waters) or golden shiners in Bald Mountain Pond, the results are the same: big trouble for the native salmonids.

Recently, a group of concerned anglers took the next step in the war to save Maine's fisheries from invasive species. These groups submitted several bills addressing the use of live-fish-as-bait and stocking. As a result of support from state representatives Thomas Watson (D-Bath) and Theodore Koffman (D-Bar Harbor), these bills will be heard by the Joint Standing Committee for Fish & Wildlife this session.

One bill calls for a ban on live-fish-as-bait on "wild" (not currently stocked) brook trout lakes and ponds. Considered by many to have better fishing and thus more important recreationally and economically than the previously protected "native," never stocked waters, these waters deserve protection.

Note that this does not stop the use of worms or even dead fish, just the use of live fish. As most biologists will tell you, this is the minimum level of protection needed.

Another bill calls for a statewide ban on non-native fish as bait. While the general public cannot keep pet koi in a fish tank, anglers can legally use non-native fish as bait in many Maine waters. In fact, of the 24 legal species of baitfish, four (emerald shiners, spottail shiners, eastern silvery minnows, and blackchin shiners) are not native to Maine. Even baitfish that are native to Maine are not native to many of the bodies of water where they can be legally used. To allow sportsmen this exemption while holding the non-sporting public to a zero-tolerance policy is suspect at best.

Another bill designed to stop the proliferation of invasive species calls for a ban on state-sponsored stocking of splake (a hatchery raised hybrid) in waters where they can interact with wild brook trout. Once again, regardless of who is doing the stocking, an invasive species is an invasive species. When one considers the conflicting opinions about whether splake can reproduce or interbreed with either of the parent species (brook trout or lake trout), utmost caution is the only rational policy.

It is unclear whether the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will support these bills. Their action in this regard will tell us how serious they are about this threat to our resources and holding those they serve -- sportsmen -- to the same standard to which they hold the general public. Anything short of full support on these bills on the part of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will likely result in future challenges to, and scrutiny of, legitimate law enforcement actions such as the recent seizure of koi.

These restrictions are a crucial step. As for "financial hardship" that will be claimed by commercial dealers if the bait they sell is banned from certain waters, they still have many others where that won't be the case. There are hundreds of waters where live-fish-as-bait would still be legal and 20 species of baitfish that could still be sold for profit.

It is time we put this prized state resource -- waters that contain native fish -- first. The next generation of Mainers is counting on us to do the right thing. Let's not let them down.

Bob Mallard runs Kennebec River Outfitters in Madison, www.kennbecriveroutfitters.com. A fly fisherman for the last 25 years, Bob has fished extensively all through New England.