FROM THE CROWE’S NEST

Off By A Damnsight

Hindsight and foresight are often compared to illustrate the hopelessness of knowing what the future holds. Certainly there is hope that the great Atlantic salmon will be restored to Maine’s rivers. Anyone who has witnessed the surge of fish migrating upstream would understand the hope. In the last couple of generations other fish have nearly stopped migrating up rivers as they had, possibly since before man was around to catch them.

The effort to restore the salmon to Maine’s rivers did not begin with the current interest in ecology. The hatchery at Craig Brook has been at it for about a century. The effort in Maine has been active for about 150 years. The knowledge base and science has grown enormously since the first attempts to return salmon to these rivers. But the changes in salmon numbers have not reflected that change.

Restoring wild scallop stocks has also been a long hard grind for the volunteer fishermen and others who worked at it. Ground fish restoration efforts have been slow, but may be among the most productive.

The awareness of the preservation of resources for sustainability is not new, but it is more common and coming to be recognized as more doable than redesigning species.

Two common references to obstacles to restoration are habitat conditions and public awareness. The Gulf of Maine has good habit conditions generally. The water is colder and cleaner than many areas on the east coast. Making the public aware of what had been and might be is a long-term educational hurdle.

The difficulty in restoring salmon to the state’s rivers may contain a wake up call for the preservation of other species. Preserve them before they get critical.

Lobster fishermen have been at this for generations. This has contributed to the health of the lobster stocks. But there are other variables that have effected the health of the stock and some of them may be as elusive as the causes of the difficulties in restoring the salmon. Preserving what we know helps the lobster and other species thrive, will be easier than trying to construct a replacement.

We can know what went wrong and why in the past. But we don’t know that for the future. If our foresight was as good as our hindsight, we’d be better off by a damnsight.