Maine Ice Anglers Association

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commercial Smelt Dealer Report Log Friday, January 06, 2006
Beginning in the 2005/2006 season, commercial smelt dealers will be required to report their fishing/catch information to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Our intention is to use this data to better manage our smelt fisheries throughout the State. All of the data submitted as part of the report is for scientific purposes only and will remain confidential and not a public record, except that the commissioner may disclose data released in a form that is statistical or general in nature. Dealers should report their information on the log forms provided with your license, and additional forms can be requested from the Department or photocopied as needed from the originals you received. Reports must be submitted by May 31st of each year, and any person who fails to report may be prohibited from obtaining a commercial smelt license.

Instructions for Commercial Smelt Dealer Report Log

Information is to be recorded for each day and/or water fished, in other words, data cannot be combined to include more than 1 day or multiple waters. If multiple waters are fished on the same date then a separate entry is required for each water.
Be sure to record information on zero catch days, which still provides the Department with valuable information on smelt abundance and catch rates.
Data to be recorded includes:

Date – this is the month/day/year of each trip.
Water Name – the name of the water fished.
Town – Town Name where the water fished is located.
County – County Name where the water fished is located.
# of Smelt Harvested – the total number of smelt harvested on the date and water specified.
Gear Type – the type of gear used on the date and water recorded (i.e. drop-net, hoop-net, dip-net, hook and line).
# of Nets Fished – if applicable, record the number of nets fished on the date and water recorded. This field likely only applies to the use of drop or hoop style nets.
Comments – this field is optional, but may include comments you think could be useful/important for the Department (i.e. smelt size range, observed abundance changes, fungus/disease, # of smelt released/graded, etc.).

Click here for printable Report Log for Commercial Smelt Dealers (in PDF form)

Letter to Smelt Dealers from Fishery Biologist James Pellerin (in PDF form)