Fisheries Then and Now: A 60-year comparison of lake fish assemblages in Maine.

Presentation (pdf document)

Peter Vaux, Mitchell Center, University of Maine, Orono. peter.vaux@maine.edu. 207/581-3256.

Katherine Webster, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono. katherine.webster@umit.maine.edu. 207/581-2542.

Between 1938 and 1944, G. Cooper and colleagues surveyed 205 lakes, most of which are in the southern and central regions of Maine. Their data provide an excellent baseline from which to explore changes in lake fish assemblages over the past six decades. The greatest change over this period is in the occurrence of largemouth bass, which today is found in over six times as many lakes as was the case 60 years ago. By comparison, smallmouth bass records increased by 30%. Other species that appear to be substantially more widespread today include brown trout (290% increase), white sucker (91%), pumpkinseed and redbreast sunfishes (45% and 68%, respectively) and cusk (54%). White perch, another species known to have been widely introduced around the state, is today found in 17% more lakes than documented by Cooper et al. We examine temporal changes in fish assemblages within the water quality and landscape contexts of these lakes.