General Fishing Laws And Statutes

STATUTES (TITLE 12 MRSA)

1. VIOLATION OF LIMITS. It is unlawful to fish for or possess fish in violation of the number, amount, or size limits of any rule adopted by the commissioner. (§12602)

2. ILLEGAL FISHING. Except as otherwise provided, it is unlawful to fish other than by the use of the single baited hook and line, artificial flies, artificial lures and spinners. (§12654)

3. USE OF ILLEGAL IMPLEMENTS. Except as otherwise provided, it is unlawful to fish with grapnel, spear, spear gun, trawl, weir, gaff, seine, gill net, trap, or set lines. (§12656)

4. POSSESSION OF ILLEGAL IMPLEMENTS. Except as otherwise provided, it is unlawful to possess any grapnel, spear, spear gun, trawl, weir, seine, gill net, trap, or set line on or adjacent to any of the inland waters. (§12656)

5. USE OF EXPLOSIVE, POISONOUS OR STUPEFYING SUBSTANCE. It is unlawful to take or destroy any fish by use of an explosive, poisonous or stupefying substance. (§12653)

6. ADVANCE BAITING. It is unlawful to deposit any meat, bones, dead fish, or other food material for the purpose of luring fish. However, it is lawful to place food particles in a baitfish trap for the purpose of luring baitfish. (§12657)

7. SALE OF CERTAIN FISH PROHIBITED. It is unlawful to buy or sell, directly or indirectly, trout, togue, landlocked salmon, black bass, white perch, or pickerel (except fish which have been lawfully produced by commercial producers and skins of fish which have been preserved by taxidermy). (§12609-A)

8. FAILURE TO LABEL FISH. It is unlawful to keep black bass, salmon, togue or trout at any sporting camp, hotel, or public lodging place without attaching to the fish the name and address of the person who caught them. (§12608)

9. SNAGGING. Except as provided in #12 (below), it is unlawful to fish for any fish by snagging. (§12651)

10. SALMON EGGS AS BAIT. Commercially prepared eggs from species that do not naturally occur in this State may be used for bait. (§12553)

11. REMOVAL OF BAG LIMITS ON BASS. In waters where the bag limit on bass has been removed by special rule, the season on bass and the method of fishing for them shall be the same as for trout and salmon.

12. SUCKERS. A person licensed or otherwise entitled to fish may take suckers for their own use between April 1st and June 30th from all rivers, brooks, and streams which are open to fishing by use of a hand spear, bow and arrow or by snagging. (Note: If suckers are taken by bow and arrow, the arrow must have a barbed or pronged point and must be attached to the bow with a line). (§12506)

13. IMPORTATION OF FISH. It is unlawful to import any live freshwater fish or eggs into this State without written permission from the Commissioner. (§12556)

14. ALEWIVES. A licensed fisherman may take one bushel of alewives daily from inland waters by use of a dip net or single hook and line for consumption by himself or members of his family, except that alewives may not be taken from waters where a municipality or individual has been granted exclusive rights under laws regulating marine resources. (§12506)

15. USE OF LIVE FISH AS BAIT. See bait dealers laws.

16. FISHWAY DAMS. The area within 150 feet of any operational fishway is located is closed to fishing except: At the following places, the fishway and the area within 75 feet of any part of the fishway are closed to fishing at all times:
(1) Grand Falls Powerhouse Dam on St. Croix River in Baileyville.
(2) Woodland Dam on the St. Croix River in Baileyville.

At the following places, the area within 75 feet of the mouth of the fishway is closed to fishing at all times:
(1) East Grand Lake Dam in Forest City Township, T9R4 NBPP;
(2) Spednic Lake Dam in Vanceboro.

At the so-called ice control dam on the Narraguagus River in the Town of Cherryfield, the area within 100 feet of the dam shall be closed to fishing at all times; and,

At the East Outlet Dam in Sapling Township (T1 R7) in Somerset County and in Big Moose Township (T2R6) in Piscataquis County at the outlet of Moosehead Lake; the fishway and the area within 50 feet of any part of the fishway shall be closed to fishing at all times.There is no fishing in or from the fishway at the Sheepscot Lake Dam in the Town of Palermo in Waldo County.

(Note: These provisions do not restrict the taking of alewives and smelts in accordance with laws regulating marine resources). (§12457)

17. SPECIAL BAG LIMIT. Whenever any waters have a special bag limit, no person shall possess more than one day’s bag limit taken from those waters.

18. MARK FISH. It is unlawful to tag, fin clip, or otherwise mark any fish to be released alive into the inland waters of the State without the expressed written consent of the Commissioner.

19. SPECIES IDENTIFICATION. It is unlawful to possess or transport fish dressed in such a manner that the species of the fish cannot be identified unless the fish are being prepared for immediate cooking. (Smoking does not constitute cooking).

20. REMOVAL OF HEADS AND TAILS. It is unlawful to alter the length of salmon, trout, lake trout, lake whitefish, and black bass unless the fish are being prepared for immediate cooking. (Smoking does not constitute cooking).

21. THOROUGHFARES. The general fishing laws which govern lakes and ponds also apply to throughfares (includes seasons, bag limits, length limits, etc.)

22. LEGAL FISH BECOME PART OF THE DAILY BAG LIMIT. Any fish, except baitfish and smelts, legally taken from inland waters must be immediately released alive into the waters from which it was taken or must be killed at once. Any fish killed becomes part of the daily bag limit. (§12611)

23. LEAD SINKERS. A person may not sell or offer for sale a lead sinker for fishing that contains any lead and weighs 1/2 ounce or less. (§12663-A)

24. BAIT CONTAINERS. A person who sells bait may not provide or sell the bait in containers that are composed in whole or in part of polystyrene foam plastic. This does not apply to baitfish. (§12553-2)