State Extends Smelt Survey

by Fishermen’s Voice Staff

Maine DMR photo

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is extending the sea run smelt survey it has done since 2009 by offering a Smelt Volunteer Log Book Survey Form to recreational smelt fishermen.

The current smelt survey is done in January, February and occasionally March by a small number of DMR employees who gather a small sample. The survey is conducted by visiting rental camps around Merrymeeting Bay area near Brunswick and Bath. Smelt fishermen are interviewed about the fish they are catching regarding measurement, the count, etc., referred to as a general creel count. There are a very few commercial smelt fishermen; most are fishing smelt for their own consumption.

Statewide, the DMR has worked in collaboration with the Downeast Salmon Federation to do smelt surveys in the Narraguasus River in Machias. Smelts are a prey fish for salmon, seals, cormorants, diving birds and larger pelagic fish species. The federation is involved in various salmon restoration efforts. The survey was started in response to data that showed declining smelt populations in the 1970s and 1980s.

DMR marine scientist Claire Enterline said the creel count, the amount a fisherman has in her creel, is one of seven survey types.

Another is the fyke net survey, where a small mesh net is placed in a waterway to collect smelts. A near-shore trawl survey is conducted with a small bottom trawl. The beach seine is a small mesh net that is dragged along the bottom. The presence-absence survey is done with volunteers and log books in the spring in a stream, measuring the presence and density of eggs, at night the number of adults, etc. Water quality surveys were done between 2008 and 2012, looking for metals in the water during spawning, and nutrient surplus from algae. Metals reduce successful spawning. Genetic surveys were done in Cobscook, Pleasant and Penobscot bays. Cobscook and Penobscot bays were found to have genetically distinct populations. The midcoast had populations similar to those to the south. Massachusetts and New Hampshire had distinct populations as well.

Smelt populations continue to decline with the loss of spawning habitat. Road construction with an undersize pipe underneath will increases the velocity of the water passing through it, thus preventing smelt passage. Non-point-source run-off from a wide range of sources contaminates waterways.

The DMR hopes the Smelt Volunteer Log Book Survey will help survey more of the coast. The current survey is for sea run smelt taken only with a hook and line. In the spring there is a dip net fishery and a fresh water smelt fishery as well.

Copies of the Volunteer Log Book Survey are available by calling 207-633-9526.