The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Operation Game Thief, in partnership with the Maine Warden Service, is offering a $2,000 reward for information about who placed an illegal net in one of Maine’s top trout rivers.
On Monday, an angler discovered an illegal gillnet in the Magalloway River, located off Route 16 in Lincoln Plantation, according to Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the department.
When game wardens arrived, they found two large brook trout and several other fish species trapped in the net. It’s unclear how long the net had been in the river or how many fish it caught before being found.
The net was about 36 feet long and 9 feet deep, which could cover a large part of the river. Using gillnets is illegal because they are deadly to fish. Once a fish gets caught in the net, it usually dies as it becomes more entangled.
A gillnet is a type of netting that hangs in the water. The holes in the net are just big enough for a fish to get its head through, but as it tries to escape, the net catches on its gills, trapping the fish.
“Maine Game Wardens and Fisheries staff are concerned about the threat this illegal net poses to trout in the Magalloway River, Latti said in a statement.
The reward for information was increased from $1,000 to $2,000 on Thursday.
Anyone with information about the person who set up this gillnet can contact Operation Game Thief at 1-800-ALERT-US, use the Maine OGT app Tip 411, or visit their website at maineogt.org.