The recent striper tourney postponement in Harpswell due to lack to fish is a sad state of affairs, but the reasons often blamed (rainy spring, colder water temps) for lack of stripers are incorrect. Virtually all the stripers we catch in Maine migrate here every spring and return in the fall to the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay area to winter over and spawn. Like many of our summer visitors, they come here to eat and grow fat on plentiful summer food such as crabs, lobsters and pogies.

There has been a precipitous decline in hatchling numbers from the Chesapeake and Hudson over the last five years and combined with commercial fishing, allowed in every East Coast state except Maine and New Hampshire, and recreational fishing, the overall population of stripers is falling fast.

According to fishery folks, as the population of stripers declines, fewer fish migrate to the far end of their northern migratory range here in Midcoast Maine. They are catching fish in southern Maine and farther south but very, very few here. I fish frequently in Harpswell and the Kennebec River and my seasonal catch has gone from more than 600 stripers four years ago to less than 50 last year. This year? Zero.

I suggest that those lucky enough to catch a striper consider some special handling: Get the fish to the boat quickly; keep them in the water and breathing till release; take photos or measurements quickly — less than 30 seconds out of water — to help ensure a better survival rate.

Al Heath
Arrowsic