CARIBOU, Maine — Through a partnership between Micmac Farms of Caribou and the state of Maine’s Soil & Water Conservation Districts, more Maine brook trout are being stocked in landowners’ private ponds.
This is the fourth year of the partnership and Micmac Farms’ role is to raise Maine brook trout for the spring trout sales. The team has raised 40,000 fish for the effort.
Micmac Farms’ Manager David Macek said, “This partnership supports our farm’s other food sovereignty work to provide wholesome produce and fresh fish to the families here in northern Maine.”
Pond stocking adds biodiversity to manmade ponds on private property and affords landowners the opportunity to raise their own food. It provides recreational opportunities, and supports catch-and-release fishing practices among native brook trout populations in the wild. A landowner who has access to their own trout is more likely to conserve native fish by releasing them back into the wild when fishing Maine’s thousands of ponds, lakes and streams.
The fish leave Caribou by truck and arrive at the trout sales, where they are then packaged into transportation boxes for landowners to bring to their final destination — their ponds. Funds raised through this effort promote conservational programming about watershed preservation, land management, and invasive species education.
Nine of the 16 Soil & Water Conservation Districts are participating this year.
