In a big way this year, clearly all of the conservation efforts have paid off on the Maine coast. I hear that they are in trouble in southern New England but the runs locally are astounding. I suspect that the changes in our river systems really favor their production now. We visited the Damariscotta Mills fish ladder Monday evening with friends and I cannot remember ever seeing more fish in the ladder. The stream was black with fish, in fact the gulls were so full that they were no longer fighting over fish. If you have never been take a few minutes to visit this amazing scene in the next week or so.
The real question is if that forage will improve our sport fisheries. Not so you would notice here in the Saint George in fact with all of the adult alewives in the river catching anything but a cold was a challenge last week. The striper fishery is a shadow of what it once was and our trout fisheries have not really changed one way or the other. The groundfish resurgence that I keep hearing will occur if herring stocks are rebuilt has not happened on our coast, other nearby rivers have the same report.
I suppose that one benefit is lobster bait which we are now raising by the ton. The late summer run of juvenile alewives makes for some spectacular bass fishing a help to be sure but not the benefits we were promised. I suppose that even with improved science we have some things are just not under our control.
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