December 20, 2012 at 8:57 am
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MDIF&W fisheries biologists and certified piscicide applicators apply Rotenone to Wadleigh Pond.[/caption]
On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, MDIF&W fisheries biologists and engineers headed to northern Maine to reclaim Wadleigh Pond. The reclamation was a necessary step to save a unique population of arctic char from becoming extirpated in Wadleigh by illegally introduced rainbow smelts.
Maine is the only state in the lower 48 that is home to native arctic char, a rare species of trout, also referred to as blueback trout. In fact, they are so rare, that they only occur in 14 of Maine’s 6,000 lakes and ponds. Char are feisty game fish, but they do not compete well with introduced fish species. Sudden shifts in the fragile balance of the char’s environment nearly always mean decimation of the char population, especially when the introduced species is the highly competitive rainbow smelt.
The 157-acre Wadleigh Pond is one of the largest ponds MDIF&W has attempted to reclaim and the second char water MDIF&W has had to reclaim in the last two years to attempt to save our char populations from illegal smelt introductions. The smelts were first discovered in Wadleigh Pond in 2006, and the char population has been declining since. Based on previous experience with illegally introduced smelts devastating the char population in Big Reed Pond (T8 R10 WELS) just two years ago, MDIF&W fisheries biologists immediately began planning for the only effective method that could potentially save the char: reclamation of the pond using the plant-derived piscicide Rotenone. For six months, fisheries biologists collected native adult char and brook trout from Wadleigh Pond. These fish were transported to Mountain Springs Trout Farm in Frenchville, ME, where they would be cared for and spawned in order to restock Wadleigh Pond after the reclamation.
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A rainbow smelt washes in to shore.[/caption]
MDIF&W spent another six months applying for and obtaining the proper environmental permits and holding informational meetings about the upcoming reclamation, originally scheduled to take place in October 2012.
The chemical was applied in less than 48 hours despite frigid temperatures and related complications, such as the equipment, chemicals, and fingers all freezing up. For the next few weeks, fisheries biologists will continue to visit Wadleigh Pond regularly, monitoring the chemical concentration in the pond and attempting to determine the success of the mission. The pond will be assessed again following ice out in the spring. If the reclamation is successful, MDIF&W intends to re-stock Wadleigh Pond with the native brook trout and char removed from that pond, and their progeny, in October 2013.
With winter imminent and angler’s thoughts turning to ice fishing, MDIF&W would like to remind anglers that it is illegal to dump any bait into the water after fishing.
MDIF&W fisheries biologists and certified piscicide applicators apply Rotenone to Wadleigh Pond.[/caption]
On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, MDIF&W fisheries biologists and engineers headed to northern Maine to reclaim Wadleigh Pond. The reclamation was a necessary step to save a unique population of arctic char from becoming extirpated in Wadleigh by illegally introduced rainbow smelts.
Maine is the only state in the lower 48 that is home to native arctic char, a rare species of trout, also referred to as blueback trout. In fact, they are so rare, that they only occur in 14 of Maine’s 6,000 lakes and ponds. Char are feisty game fish, but they do not compete well with introduced fish species. Sudden shifts in the fragile balance of the char’s environment nearly always mean decimation of the char population, especially when the introduced species is the highly competitive rainbow smelt.
The 157-acre Wadleigh Pond is one of the largest ponds MDIF&W has attempted to reclaim and the second char water MDIF&W has had to reclaim in the last two years to attempt to save our char populations from illegal smelt introductions. The smelts were first discovered in Wadleigh Pond in 2006, and the char population has been declining since. Based on previous experience with illegally introduced smelts devastating the char population in Big Reed Pond (T8 R10 WELS) just two years ago, MDIF&W fisheries biologists immediately began planning for the only effective method that could potentially save the char: reclamation of the pond using the plant-derived piscicide Rotenone. For six months, fisheries biologists collected native adult char and brook trout from Wadleigh Pond. These fish were transported to Mountain Springs Trout Farm in Frenchville, ME, where they would be cared for and spawned in order to restock Wadleigh Pond after the reclamation.
[caption id="attachment_165" align="alignright" width="300"] A rainbow smelt washes in to shore.[/caption]
MDIF&W spent another six months applying for and obtaining the proper environmental permits and holding informational meetings about the upcoming reclamation, originally scheduled to take place in October 2012.
The chemical was applied in less than 48 hours despite frigid temperatures and related complications, such as the equipment, chemicals, and fingers all freezing up. For the next few weeks, fisheries biologists will continue to visit Wadleigh Pond regularly, monitoring the chemical concentration in the pond and attempting to determine the success of the mission. The pond will be assessed again following ice out in the spring. If the reclamation is successful, MDIF&W intends to re-stock Wadleigh Pond with the native brook trout and char removed from that pond, and their progeny, in October 2013.
With winter imminent and angler’s thoughts turning to ice fishing, MDIF&W would like to remind anglers that it is illegal to dump any bait into the water after fishing.Categories