PORTLAND, Maine - Maine is making it more difficult to fish for smelts in an effort to help the wriggling fish rebuild populations that have plummeted in the state and elsewhere in New England.
A Maine advisory committee unanimously decided Tuesday the state will enact the new regulations to protect the declining populations of the fish. Smelts are popular in Maine among winter ice fishermen and as a batter fried treat.
The new rules divide the state into three smelt management "zones,'' with the strictest rules on the southern coast. The rules mean no smelt fishing in the southern part of Maine from March 15 to June 30.
State officials say spawning runs have declined by more than 50 percent compared to the late 1970s and early 1980s.
