New Landmark Protections for Sustenance Fishing and Clean Rivers

June 21, 2019 (Augusta, ME) — Maine’s tribes will receive long-sought water quality protections for sustenance fishing under a bill signed into law by Governor Janet Mills today. Along with an upgrade of legal protections for more than 400 miles of rivers and streams that was signed into law on Tuesday, it will represent the most significant upgrade of clean water protections for Maine’s rivers in a decade.

“These long-overdue legal protections recognize that clean water is a key ingredient for preserving Maine’s way of life,” said Nick Bennett, Staff Scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “The protection of sustenance fishing in tribal waters is a hard-fought victory for Maine’s tribes. These essential clean water protections will benefit Maine’s tribes and the countless Mainers who use the waters that these two bills protect.”

Until now, the State of Maine has never created water quality criteria aimed specifically at protecting sustenance fishing for Maine’s tribes, causing a long dispute between the tribes and the State.

LD 1775 will establish sustenance fishing as a “designated use” for tribal waters identified by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Maine’s four tribes: the Penobscot Indian Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Houlton Band of Maliseets, and the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. Within these waters, the new law protects sustenance fishing by calculating criteria for water contaminants based on a daily fish consumption rate of 200 grams (about seven ounces per day).