Meeting Minutes

ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
September 19, 2023 @ 9:30am
353 Water Street, 4th floor conference room
Augusta, ME
(and virtually via Microsoft Teams)

 

Attending:

Judy Camuso, Commissioner
Timothy Peabody, Deputy Commissioner
Mark Latti, Communications Director
Dan Scott, Warden Service Colonel
Nate Webb, Wildlife Division Director
Francis Brautigam, Director of Fisheries & Hatcheries
Joe Overlock, Fisheries Management Supervisor
Kory Whittum, Fisheries Planner
Cindy Rego, Warden Service Secretary
Becky Orff, Secretary/Recorder

COUNCIL MEMBERS
Kristin Peet (Chair)
Shelby Rousseau (vice-chair)
Tony Liguori
Roger Grant
Eric Ward
Jennifer Geel - via Teams
Al Cowperthwaite via Teams
Bob Duchesne via Teams
Ed Pineau via Teams
Mike Gawtry via Teams


GUESTS
Gary Corson, New Sharon
2 additional staff and/or public online

 

I. Call to Order

Kristin Peet, Council Chair, called the meeting to order.

I-A. Pledge of Allegiance

II. Moment of Silence

III. Introductions

Introductions were made.

IV. Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meeting

A motion was made by Mrs. Rousseau to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and that was seconded by Mr. Ward.

Vote: unanimous in favor minutes approved.

V. Rulemaking

A. Step 3

1. Ch. 1 & 1-A Fishing Regulations/State Heritage Waters 2024

Mr. Brautigam stated at Step 2 we had talked about some minor revisions to the fishing regulations packet in response to public comment received. Following discussion with staff and the Attorney General's office the Commissioner was ready to move forward with some changes to the original packet. Under Chapter 1 and 1A there was only one amendment for consideration and that was related to East Grand Lake. The amendment was in response to public comment and concern that individuals would not be able to ice fish until the end of April. We addressed the issue by adopting a "B" code which established a fishing season that ran from January 1 April 30th. Looking at that and the definition of ice fishing shacks, it would allow people to ice fish until the end of April. There were no other amendments proposed to the original packet.

Mrs. Peet stated this was a nice effort to respond to public comment.

A motion was made by Mr. Ward to adopt the proposal as amended and that was seconded by Mr. Liguori.

Vote: unanimous in favor motion passed

2. Ch. 2 Bass Tournament/Fishing Derby rule

Mr. Brautigam stated Chapter 2 covered bass tournaments and fishing derbies. Most of the revisions being considered were clarifications with one exception. The first was to clarify that no bass tournaments or fishing derbies could be managed in a way that it would interfere with access to a boat launch facility. When the original language was advertised, there was concern that the organizations would not be able to convene an event there. We wanted to clarify the expectation that you could convene the event provided you didn't interfere with normal launching and retrieving of boats. The second clarification related to the requirement for watercraft inspections. We had become complacent referring to them as "plant" or "weed" inspections, we wanted to broaden the understanding of aquatic invasive species. In places of the proposal where it mentioned the term "aquatic plant" we were replacing that with the term "aquatic species."

Mr. Brautigam stated we also received comments that because we structured the prohibition on bass tournaments in the north zone with county line descriptions, that was not entirely in line with how some of the rivers were defined. We had some rivers that transcended the north/south line. We moved away from describing the north zone by counties and basically referenced that any of the bass tournaments that were not permitted were those that occured in the north zone general law. Those waters in our law book, we list waters as north zone or south zone. If they were listed as north zone, those were the waters that were in effect. The one exception/clarification was in response to concern by the organized bass fishing community that there were some popular high use waters in more of the southern tier of the north zone and we were proposing to exempt five (5) waters from the prohibition on bass tournaments. The waters included Indian Pond in St. Albans; Great Moose in Athens; Schoodic Lake in Brownville; Sebec in Bowerbank and Wesserunsett in Madison. In addition, we were offering a clarification. In the general law of the north zone there was no size or bag limit on bass. Ordinarily in the south zone when bass tournaments were convened the participants were required to maintain the bass in good health, maintain aeration flow through systems and release the fish alive. In the north zone, we were not requiring folks to keep the bass alive, they could harvest the fish if they so desired. The rule amendment would provide that extra clarification on those 5 waters listed as exemptions.

Mr. Brautigam stated the last clarification related to different types of events, weigh-in tournaments. We had club events and we also had open tournaments. On the Maine, New Hampshire border they were allowed up to ten (10) weigh-in events. We had previously limited a number of open tournaments to four (4). Similar to what we had done on all the other events in other parts of the state, we were basically not defining how many events you could have. We were now saying you could have the seven (7) that was allowed in most of the state, and on the ME/NH border you could have ten (10). There were no further changes being proposed to the original packet.

Council Member Comments and Questions

Mr. Liguori asked how we defined invasive aquatic species.

Mr. Brautigam stated we had a general definition in our strategic management plan. There was not a specific list. By law, you were not allowed to have anything that was a plant on your boat or trailer. The hope was with the new law in effect requiring draining of watercraft to eliminate any other aquatic life. We would like to broaden the messaging and encourage more responsible behaviors.

Mrs. Peet asked if these were self-inspections or was someone there that would know what to look for.

Mr. Brautigam stated for the organized events they were required to have certain plant inspectors that had been trained. For any pre-fishing prior to the events, we were requiring self-inspections in those instances.

Commissioner Camuso asked Mr. Brautigam to discuss zebra mussels.

Mr. Brautigam stated we had zebra mussels that were discovered in Quebec on the Quebec/New Brunswick border last fall. Our new invasive species coordinator was there currently implementing a new monitoring plan to look for potential downstream migration of zebra mussels within the drainage. Zebra mussels were very small, and they had a larvae stage that was free swimming. It was not very visible which was part of the reason we were supportive of encouraging people to drain their watercraft in a way that it was not being drained back into the lake. There are some aquatic invasives that were not highly visible and only way to manage those was through promoting "dry." We currently had not confirmed them in the St. John River. There was a lot of traffic moving between New Brunswick, Quebec and Maine so all the provinces and the state were trying to create awareness and encourage people to clean, drain and dry to reduce the risk of spreading introduction of zebra mussels. Other states dealing with those infestations had significant economic impacts because they can fully clog intake and outlets associated with municipal treatment systems; they'll clog outboard motors and more importantly, they can significantly change the ecology of the waters of the state by completely dominating the landscape.

Mrs. Peet asked about eradication methods.

Mr. Brautigam stated he did not believe there was a safe chemical that could be applied in a way that didn't have broader ecological impacts. It was all about containment and limiting the spread.

There were no further questions or comments.

A motion was made by Mr. Liguori to adopt the proposal as amended and that was seconded by Mrs. Rousseau.

Vote: Nine (9) in favor; One (1) opposed (Mr. Ward) motion passed

B. Step 2

There were no items under Step 2.

C. Step 1

There were no items under Step 1.

VI. Other Business

1. Federal audit findings re: grant monies

Commissioner Camuso stated she wanted to give an update on an article that was in the news around an audit finding that the Department was misusing federal money. Our federal monies are audited every 3 to 5 years. We do charge a grant overhead to our federal grants and those are allowable. This had been done for the last 30 years and we had been audited every 3-5 years and there had never been an issue or a finding. This particular auditor noticed it first with DMR and they charged the same overhead rate which was 27%-30%. They found that to be too high, but there was no federal guidance that says what you can or cannot charge. Some states charge anywhere between 7% and 80%. It was a completely allowable charge and the auditor's issue was primarily with what the percentage was rather than the fact it was a legal activity. We did not anticipate any outcomes rather than moving forward the USFWS may set parameters around what the rate of overhead you could charge.

Commissioner Camuso stated she sat on the national grants committee which was a committee that oversees money that the USFWS puts into multi-state grants. The USFWS allocated the money to be awarded to projects supporting multiple states. On the committee, they discussed putting guidelines around the indirect rate people could charge. People applying for grants, some were partners or state agencies and the guidance the USFWS gave to the grants committee was they could not dictate what another entity's indirect rate was, that was not legal. Some of the grants apply and people were charging 50%-70% overhead and that was legal.

Commissioner Camuso stated she just wanted to assure the council that nothing had changed, we had been doing this process for decades. This had been the most challenging audit we had. Other states had the same experience to the extent that the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies wrote a letter of complaint to the USFWS stating the auditor was disrespectful, unprofessional and basically a list of challenges that the state's experienced with this particular auditor. A separate entity is contracted to do the audit outside of government. We did not anticipate any further action.

There were no further comments or questions.

VII. Councilor Reports

Councilors gave reports.

Mr. Overlock stated we had received a report from the district warden Downeast about some eels showing up dead in someone's trap who was harvesting eels for scientific research in the St. Croix River. He had been doing this for years and it was abnormal to see the eels dying in the traps. We took a sample of the eels to our fish health lab in Augusta for analysis. Preliminary results showed a heavy load of a gill parasite, gill lice was at least a factor in the mortality. We were not seeing this in other species. There was another location approximately 13 miles upstream within the drainage where we also saw some mortality and we were trying to retrieve a sample there as well. We were coordinating with DMR and DEP, the Passamaquoddy tribe and New Brunswick. For now it appeared to be localized and related to a parasite issue. These were adult eels that were migrating out to sea to spawn.

VIII. Public Comments & Questions

There were no public comments or questions.

IX. Agenda Items & Schedule Date for Next Meeting

The Council would be notified of the next meeting date at a later time. There was no anticipated rulemaking for the near future.

X. Adjournment

A motion was made by Mr. Ward and that was seconded by Mrs. Peet to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.