BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024
Preserving a fishery for the next generations is not as simple as catch and release. That practice can have the opposite effect, causing an imbalance between food and population that results in skinny, unhealthy fish or allowing the non-native species — however they got there — to thrive over the natives in a body of water. Catch and release practices were part of Sebago’s problems, but in other lakes and ponds, that method saves the fishery. That’s true especially where there are native species like Maine’s iconic brook trout or Arctic charr. Educating ourselves about our favorite fishing holes and choosing to do the best thing for that place is really a better approach than all or nothing. Catch and release may or may not be the right choice.