To the Editor:

I read with extreme interest your article on page A3 of the May 6th issue of The Times-Record. The Associated Press article pertains to concerns about the Penobscot and Choptank Rivers lacking conservation measures. For many years now, 60 or so, I have spoken to the wasteful atlantic salmon stocking programs, as well as river and air pollution. for whatever reason, our federal government seems hell bent to keep funding this Atlantic salmon stocking program without addressing the primary reasons why stocks continue to dwindle.

In earlier years, dams, lack of fishways and pollution were the primary causes. Now with rivers having been cleaned up, and dams removed, as well as the installation of fishways, the numbers are still dismal.

New Brunswick, Canada has addressed one primary problem that threatened their salmon and striper fisheries by permitting generous bag limits on commorants and common mergansers, both of which consume tons of sport fish annually. Today they have thriving populations of both species. These waterfowl, especially the commorant, have little or no food value, however, the Canadians do eat the common mergansers. Without question, the Canadians recognized that the commorants and mergansers threatened their salmon and striper fisheries and passed laws that will guaranty the survival of two of their most important resourses.

Why we, here in the United States, persist in allowing these fish eaters to decimate the salmon smolt as they are stocked is beyond me. Back in the 1960s, my uncle was fishing lobsters in Machias. One day he beached the boat and went ashore. Much to his amazement the ledges were littered with small tags that had been inserted in the smolt and ended up in the gut of commorants and then excreted by the hundreds on the rocks. today some 60 plus years later, I see my state and federal tax dollars squandered supporting an agency that is and has been burning up billions of dollars for decades. I should note they have little to show for a return on investiment.

I go back to a time period and the initial 1960/70s stocking program of salmon in the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. that program had fallen on its face the last time I checked.

I implore our elected officials to see this problem for what it is. Please pass emergency legislation that will help control the commorant and merganser populations, so that our salmon and striper stocks have a fighting chance to reach maturity.

Chester A. Gillis

Bowdoinham