A fin in the door (alewife restoration, Maine)

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=173076&ac=PHnws

For 13 years, Maine fishing guides and sport camp owners have successfully blocked alewife runs into the St. Croix River watershed, protecting the valuable smallmouth bass population from a fish they view as an invasive pest and a threat to their livelihoods.

But this year, the sport fishing industry is on the defensive as legislation pushed by Gov. John Baldacci's administration to re-open fish ladders gains momentum.

The issue is drawing attention from outside the state -- a change from 1995, when the Maine Legislature blocked alewife access in a move that attracted only local interest.

What's different today is that river herring -- a category that includes alewife and blueback herring -- are now clearly in trouble.

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Stocks down, a ban looming, alewife fishermen join forces

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=173087&ac=PHnws

Scattered along the Maine coast, alewife fishermen for years have worked in isolation.

Not anymore. For the first time in decades, they are getting organized -- learning one another's names, holding meetings, creating phone lists and writing letters.

They are gearing up to fight a possible moratorium on the catch, which supplies fresh bait to Maine's lobstermen at a time of year of when supplies of salted herring are low.

Not only could a ban mean a loss of income, it also could mean the end of a fishery that has been part of Maine cultural and economic heritage since settlers arrived in the 1600s, the fishermen say.

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