September 18, 2018 — Good news for Maine lobstermen: Just as a scarcity of the herring they use to bait their traps has closed that fishery, state officials are expanding the fishery for another baitfish – menhaden, or pogies that have shown up in large numbers off Maine for the third year in a row.
Four southern states where pogies have not been abundant this year are transferring some of their federal quotas for the fish to Maine.
Large menhaden populations have been recorded off this state for decades, but only periodically. State Marine Resources Coordinator Melissa Smith says with the Gulf of Maine’s waters warming, and North Atlantic currents changing, the state may see them return more often.
“Those environmental factors might tip the scales of the pogies natural cyclical nature,” Smith says, “so that we do see them in Maine perhaps a little more frequently.”