On a Hunt for Fishless Lakes, Teeming With Life

In Washington County, Maine, scientists are in search of fish along the Machias river; however, there are no fish. Biologists say fishless lakes are hubs of biodiversity but because of fisherman, the fish are being moved around. Maine woods have some of the last fishless lakes in the Northeast because of the acidity of the water. This acidity is too great for the fish to live in ergo these lakes have been fishless since the glaciers receeded. On the study was Dr. deMaynadier who found frogs, salamanders and damselflies that thrive only where fish are absent. With international concern about amphibian declines, fishless lakes have been receiving more attention elsewhere. A decade ago, Dr. McPeek often visited a fishless lake on a steep bluff above the Connecticut River in Vermont. “All of the zooplankton, all of the insects, all of the amphibians that bred there were completely different than the lake with fish that’s half a mile down the road,” he said. But somebody has since stocked it with carp. “Now this lake is just ruined,” Dr. McPeek said. The quote above displays how easy it is to ruin an ecological miracle. Fishless lakes are a beautiful thing and by simply adding one fish to a fishless lake, it can be ruined forever.