is a collaborative effort that began in 2014, and seeks to recruit volunteer anglers to gather data on wild brook trout in Maine’s coastal rivers and streams. Wild brook trout may move considerable distances during the course of their lives. Some wild brook trout that live in coastal streams may spend part of their lives in both saltwater and freshwater, a life history strategy called "diadromy.” Diadromous brook trout may leave their freshwater environment for periods ranging from a few months to over a year. Typically, they migrate from fresh to salt water at an early age, probably to take advantage of the more abundant food resources in salt water estuaries and perhaps also to seek thermal refuge during certain times of the year.
Volunteer Anglers Needed
A fascinating and mysterious fish… The distribution and life history of coastal brook trout in Maine is poorly understood. Not all brook trout in coastal streams adopt a diadromous life history. It is not known why some brook trout are migratory while others live their entire lives in freshwater. Wild brook trout in coastal streams appear to be in decline and are under significant pressure from a number of threats, including development, agriculture, habitat fragmentation, inadequate road/stream crossings, damming, and angler exploitation. There has never been an intensive survey of Maine's diadromous brook trout populations, so their current status in Maine is uncertain.
We need your help! The state of Maine lacks basic data about which coastal streams contain wild brook trout populations. The purpose of the Coastal Stream Survey is to identify coastal subwatersheds for further standardized assessment by fisheries biologists. Recruiting anglers to aid in this effort greatly increases our ability to gather data over a wide area and will provide fisheries biologists with valuable data for an initial assessment of coastal brook trout populations in Maine.
This program is on hiatus at the moment. Please check back for updates.
Learn more about the Remote Pond Survey.
Check out our partner organization, the Sea Run Brook Trout Coalition.