Salmon Protections Extended to Major Maine Rivers

It looks like NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife have agreed to include Atlantic salmon in the Kennebec, Androscoggin and Penobscot rivers in their plans to continue listing Gulf of Maine salmon as endangered. That means the chance of a fishing season on these major rivers this fall or next spring is almost nil. According to John Holyoke, the decision also has anglers wondering if further restrictions — for example the halting of stocking efforts for brown and rainbow trout on these rivers — isn’t also in the cards. He also points out an irony in the numbers: apparently twice as many salmon returned this year as last year.