One of the roles played by MITSC is to monitor any environmental issues that impact or could potentially impact tribal communities in Maine.
In addition to promulgating fishing rules and regulations over waters where it has authority, MITSC is tasked with making recommendations about fish and wildlife policies on non-Indian lands in order to protect fish or wildlife stocks on land and water subject to regulations by the Tribes or the commission.
Some of the issues we are currently following include:
MITSC has recently completed and published a new special report, Sea Run, which addresses the impact of Maine policies and activity on the quality and quantity of traditional tribal fish stocks and sustenance lifeways practices, spanning from the time of first contact between Europeans and the Wabanaki Nations to the present day. This report provides a broad overview of actions and inactions by the State of Maine, whether those actions/inactions were based on express policy, informal policy, or on decisions simply not to have any policy at all. The report includes specific recommendations for implementation that are intended to promote discussion and cooperative action.
