Milfoil Conference 2015 Factoids and Notes

Chris Gouterman is our milfoil coordinator but was unable to attend so I filled in for her..... Jerry Holt

A few notes on what I learned at the conference.

Courtesy Boat Inspection Handbook http://www.maine.gov/dep/water/invasives/cbi-handbook.pdf

Invasive species does not just mean plants and other marine life from "away".  Example -  a Maine native bass introduced to a primarily brook trout body of water is an invasive species because the bass is more aggressive and has no natural predators in the new body of water.

Maine provides over 90% of the brook trout fishing in the US.

Any plant transfer from a body of water via boats or trailers is illegal regardless of it being an invasive species or not.

LEA coordinates the milfoil training and is the financial conduit for much of the funding state wide.

LEA is pursuing electronic data collecting for boat inspections.

In 2014 there were over 30,000 CBIs (courtesy boat inspections). There were 109 inspections that identified invasive plants  (saves).

65 of the 109 saves were from Lake Arrowhead in Limerick!!

Lake Arrowhead has two milfoil harvesting boats running 6 days a week.

A panelist from Lake Arrowhead reported real estate values of waterfront properties on that lake have dropped 32% since 2007, causing Limerick to raise the mill rate for all property owners in town.

Discussion regarding closing access to surface waters of severely infected waters varied from no way to yes. There were many variations of the two extremes which were noted by state officials for further consideration. Two moderate ideas were to close access points (with a gate)  when no inspectors are available and direct launching and take out activities to a single access point for better monitoring.

Bass tournaments may or may not be sanctioned by the state. If sanctioned they must have a trained CBI and all boats inspected upon launch and take out.  This does not prevent the local CBI from also performing their duties. Sanctioned tournaments will have stickers on the boats indicating such.

Bass tournaments are a highly visible activity and an easy target for blame but may only be part of the problem. Activity that we don't see or is not organized may play a stronger role in spreading milfoil.

I tried to hit the high points with enough description for you to understand the issues discussed but not so much as to bury you in details.  I hope I succeeded.

Remember Chris Gouterman is our milfoil coordinator and any general concerns should be directed to her.

Maine Milfoil Conference 2015 Pictures

Panel discussion regarding restricting surface access to infected lakes/ponds.

US Senator Susan Collins video presentation regarding funding.

Commissioner Inland Fisheries and Wildlife presentation on invasive fish.

LEA's  Mary Jewit training session on Courtesy Boat Inspections.