UPDATE:
Operation Game Thief, working with the Maine Warden Service, is now offering a $2,000 reward regarding an illegal gillnet that was set in the Magalloway River. The additional reward was donated by a concerned citizen in the area.
The Maine Warden Service is seeking information regarding an illegal gill net that was set on one of Maine’s premier trout streams, the Magalloway River, in Northern Oxford County.
A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting the illegal gill net. Anyone with information regarding this illegal net should please call 1-800-ALERT-US with any information.
From the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife:
On Monday August 26, Maine Game Wardens were notified by a concerned angler who noticed the net along the banks of the Magalloway River, right at the bridge on Route 16. Game Wardens responded and upon investigation, located the net that had which two large dead brook trout entangled in it, along with several other species of fish. It is unknown how long the net had been set in the river, or how many fish may have been taken before the net was located.
The use of a gillnet is illegal, and lethal to fish populations. The gillnet was approximately 36 feet long and 9 feet deep. Gillnets kill whatever becomes entrapped in the net, and the size of this net could stretch across a significant portion of the river.
The Magalloway River is one of Maine’s premiere native brook trout fisheries.
Anyone with any information can also submit a tip online by using the Maine OGT app “Tip 411” or through the website at www.maineogt.org.
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