Op-Ed

On August 4th, citizens and fishermen from both sides of the US-Canadian border came to Princeton, ME to speak about an issue that is critical to future fisheries in both countries – reopening the St. Croix River to alewives. Maine’s Department of Marine Resources estimates that the St. Croix should have the largest alewife run in the state with the potential equal to that of the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers combined.

Maine has blocked alewives from 98 % of their spawning habitat in the St. Croix since 1995. This decision came about when a small number of guides convinced the Legislature that alewives were a threat to non-native smallmouth bass. There was no scientific evidence to support the idea that anadromous alewives harm smallmouth bass or any other species. Nevertheless, the Legisla- ture has been unable to reverse the 1995 law that has caused the St. Croix alewife population to drop from about 2.5 million fish in the 1980s to less than 2000 fish in 2007.

The International Joint Commis- sion (IJC) administers the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 between the US and Canada. This group has the authority over all of the boundary waters from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 51 fisheries and environmental groups from the US and Canada – including the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Downeast Lobster- men’s Association, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Rivers, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and the Alewife Harvesters of Maine – petitioned the International Joint Commission (IJC) to use its authority to override Maine’s law and reopen the St. Croix alewife run.

In response to the petition, an Adaptive Management Plan was developed to restore alewives to the St. Croix. Unfortunately, this plan falls far short of what is needed to restore a sustainable alewife run in the St. Croix. The plan needlessly slows down the pace at which alewives can reestablish themselves in the river, limits them to only 30% of their ancestral spawning grounds thus once again giving precedence to smallmouth bass over alewives, potentially in perpetuity. This plan continues the Legislature’s 1995 policy of basing fisheries management on politics and perception rather than good science.

Alewives are a critical source of bait for Maine's lobster industry. Lobstermen can no longer depend as heavily on Atlantic herring for bait due to both declines in catch limits and declines in actual landings, so we need alewives more than ever.

At the August 4th public meeting, I and many others, testified in support of a more proactive approach that would restore alewives to the St. Croix as quickly as possible and to all of their ancestral habitat. Many others submitted similar written testimony including the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the National Marine Fish eries Service, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Alewives are a keystone species. They provide food for everything from mink to whales to codfish. In order to bring about important economic and ecological benefits for our state – alewives need to be present in very large numbers and allowing them free access to the St. Croix is a great way to accomplish this. There is simply no justifiable reason for the IJC to slow the process down. We need the St. Croix alewife population to rebound as soon as possible, and the IJC should act accordingly.

Representative Leila J. Percy
House Chair, Marine Resources Committee
Maine State Legislature