Make sure you are aware of the latest laws around fishing tackle. After September 30, many zones in the state are closed to fishing on inland waters (check the state’s website for details here) so now is a great time to clean out your tackle box and get rid of any lead tackle you may […]
Fish Lead Free
There’s a lot to learn above and below the ice at Fields Pond
Winter is an exciting time of year for those of us close to freshwater, as ice advances across the surfaces of lakes and ponds. Ice skaters and skiers eagerly await the season of thick ice, and ice fishers get ready to set up their shacks. With the temperature dips and peaks of this December in […]
Maine Audubon’s 41st Annual Loon Count Results Show Healthy Loon Population
Above photo: Loons on Fields Pond, Photo by Wayne Foote It was a very good year—for Maine loons! When every single number associated with the Annual Loon Count goes up, scientists at Maine Audubon say it’s a great indication that the Common Loon population is healthy. All the numbers of adult loons, loon chicks, lakes […]
Tackling Lead, One Retailer at a Time: It Adds Up!
Earlier this fall, an ad playing on the radio caught Dana Jenkins’ attention. “Calling all fishing tackle stores in Maine,” the announcer’s voice said. “Maine Audubon wants to pay your store for its lead tackle. A new law makes it illegal to sell painted lead jigs weighing 1 ounce or less or measuring 2.5 inches […]
Maine Sport Outfitters first retailer to take part in lead tackle buyback program
As a new law expanding the ban on sales of certain sizes of lead tackle comes into effect, we are working to help tackle stores adapt and respond, by offering to buy their inventory. We’ve just had our first success story this week and wanted to share the news! Thanks to a grant from Maine […]
Maine Audubon offers money to retailers to buy back lead tackle
Calling all Maine fishing tackle retailers: Maine Audubon is offering to buy back your store’s lead tackle to help get it off the shelves—and keep it out of lakes. As of September 1, 2024, the sale of painted lead jigs weighing one ounce or less or measuring less than 2.5 inches long is prohibited, and […]
Fish Lead Free: Recycle Time!
We recycled 218 POUNDS of lead fishing tackle this past week! Maine Audubon has been collecting lead tackle from anglers across the state for about ten years through our Fish Lead Free initiative to reduce loon deaths. It only takes a loon ingesting one small piece of lead tackle to result in the slow and […]
Singing in the Rain with the Maine Loon Restoration Project
One of Maine Audubon’s most visible projects is the Annual Loon Count, where more than 1500 volunteers go out, on the third Saturday in July, to count loons and give us a snapshot of the loon population. But we’ve also got a major project aimed at increasing loon nesting success and survival, called the Maine […]
WIN! Gov. Mills Signs into law a bill that will help protect loons from lead poisoning
One of Maine’s most iconic wildlife species will benefit from a new law signed this week by Governor Mills that phases out the use and sale of small-sized painted lead fishing tackle. Common Loons can accidentally ingest lost or discarded lead tackle when it sinks to the bottom, causing illness and death. This new law […]