Sardine Tournament of Champions - Finals

After eating what seems to be equivalent to my body weight in sardines over the last several months, as I attempt to find a winner in the sardine tournament of champions, I finally came to a conclusion on what is the best sardine in the state of Maine. While my original plan had been to offer up my final choice of champion on 9/23/11, I have decided that you as my audience have probably had just about all you could possibly take on the topic of canned fish. So without further comment here are the final results of the Sardine Tournament of Champions.

Sardine Championships Final Round
Semi Final Winners of Round 1 and 2 (Bar Harbor VS King Oscar) - A champion is crowned and it is BAR HARBOR!

A clear winner the BAR HARBOR sardines are a rich and flavorful with a pleasant smoky taste. In a recent trip to the grocery store I noted that they are additionally available in a variety of flavors including wild herring in cabernet wine sauce, wild herring fillets with cracked pepper and the classic naturally smoked wild kippers. Next time you are in the supermarket swing down the canned meat isle and give these fish treats a try!

Sardine Championships - Semi Final Round 2
Winners of Round 3 and 4 (Bar Harbor VS Polar) – Winner: Bar Harbor

Sardine Championships - Semi Final Round 1
Winners of Round 1 and 2 (Bumble Bee VS King Oscar) – Winner: King Oscar

Sardine Review – Round 4
Chicken of the Sea VS Polar - Winner: Polar

Sardine Review – Round 3
Brunswick VS Bar Harbor – Winner: Bar Harbor

Sardine Review – Round 2
King Oscar V.S. Beach Cliff – Winner: King Oscar

Sardine Review – Round 1
Crown Prince V.S. Bumblebee – Winner: Bumblebee

Talking Turtle with Maine’s IFW

Here is the transcript of my e-mail conversation with Jonathan Mays with the Reptile, Amphibian, & Invertebrate Group at the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. It serves to provide additional information and clarification around the laws and regulations concerning the trapping of snapping turtles. A special thanks to Jonathan!

Steve,

Thanks for checking in on snapping turtle trapping in Maine.  It looks like you got your information from the Maine Warden Service FAQ webpage (http://www.maine.gov/ifw/warden_service/faq.html).

Aside from prohibiting the commercial take of reptiles (including snapping turtles), personal use/take is allowed and legal in Maine (exception being any species listed Endangered/Threatened).  Since snapping turtles are not considered either endangered / threatened, game, or sport fish, there are no additional specific laws or rules as to harvest regulations, gear, season, etc.  The gray area arises when you consider potential by-catch of fish, fur-bearers, etc. that do have rules and regs associated with them.  For example, your question regarding use of a hook w/ steel leader tied to shore (i.e., fixed line) isn't covered in regard to snapping turtles but is clearly an illegal method of fishing as defined in MDIFW's Inland Fishing regulations (see the definition for "set line" on page 11 here : http://www.maine.gov/ifw/laws_rules/fishing/pdfs/Laws&Definitions.pdf).

So, while personal snapping turtle trapping is allowed/legal without specific permits, licenses, or regulations, you have to consider the anticipated methods and whether or not they could potentially take other species (by-catch) that do have laws/rules associated with them (sport fish, fur- bearers, game animals, etc.).  With that in mind, here's your questions one at a time with my answers in all caps:

1. Is a fishing license required to trap snapping turtles?

NO - BUT IF YOU ANTICIPATE ACCIDENTAL TRAPPING OF FISH SPECIES IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE ONE (SAME GOES FOR IF THE TRAP CATCHES A GAME SPECIES YOU'D WANT TO HAVE A TRAPPING LICENSE AND BE OPERATING IN LEGAL SEASON, ETC.)

2. Is hook w/ steel leader, tied to shore a legal method (as used in
other states) or only box type traps?

NO - FIXED LINES VIOLATE FISHING REGS AND LIKLIHOOD OF TAKING FISH IN ADDITION TO TURTLES IS VERY HIGH

3. What types of bait are legal (raw chicken or beef liver)? Can dead bait such as minnows be used?

ALL BAIT WOULD BE LEGAL FOR SNAPPING TURTLES BUT DUE TO TAKE OF FISH YOU WOULD WANT TO BE COGNITIVE OF WHAT IS LEGAL/ALLOWED FOR THE WATER BODY YOU'RE TRAPPING/FISHING

4. How long can a trapped snapping turtle be kept before it must bedispatched?

TO MY KNOWLEDGE THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC LAWS OR RULES ADDRESSING THIS

5. Is there other information, I have not mentioned that will assist me in writing the story?

Thinking on your last question, I'd like to mention two other points regarding snapping turtle harvest.  The first being that just like with large predatory fish and/or bottom feeders, snapping turtles are top level predators in many/most of the waterbodies they live in.  As such it is good practice to limit consumption of snapping turtle meat (and avoid if pregnant, etc); research has shown snapping turtles carry high levels of mercury, PCB's, and other bio-accumulates.  Secondly it's worth mentioning one of the reasons Maine no longer permits commercial take of snapping turtles.  Snappers, like all turtles, are K-selected species that take many years to reach sexual maturity (18+ years for snappers), have very low nesting/hatching success, and thus need to live a long time in order to replace themselves.  While limited personal take should allow populations to persist, a targeted commercial exploitation could quickly wipe out turtle populations for the future.

Hopefully that covered most of it Steve but again don't hesitate to follow up if I missed something.  Also, I always recommend running legal interpretations on Maine Hunting/Fishing/Trapping by your local game warden cause in the end they're the ones enforcing them.

Good luck with the article and if it's not any trouble I wouldn't mind seeing a copy when it's ready.

Best,
Jonathan
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In addition to the information provided by Jonathan's e-mail here are also a few other online resources.

Excellent Website Links:
Trapping, cleaning and eating snapping turtles:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/FishingSubhomePage/how_to_fishplaceholder/Turtlepagesplaceholder/fishingturtleturtle/tabid/6119/Default.aspx

More on Snapping turtles:
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1996/06/common-snapping-turtles-catching-cleaning-eating
http://www.chelydra.org/

Snapping Turtle Traps:
http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_trapping_and_relocation.html

Very Good Additional Information:
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm

I heard this on one of the Forums and thought it was funny . . .   
How To Age Snapping Turtles: Start with prodding the turtle with your little finger. If you find he can snap it off easily he is at least 3; ring finger about 5, middle finger 8, pointer finger 12, thumb over 20.

Snapping Turtle, It’s What’s For Dinner!

Turtle meat is somewhat tough so it is best to parboil it for an hour or so before planning to incorporate it into any recipe. One of the favorite methods of preparing is including the delicate bits in a soup. In our “experiment”, the turtle parts were boiled and then allowed to cool. The bones were picked of meat and placed in a shallow casserole dish then lightly sprinkled with pineapple chunks and a small handful of diced summer sausage. The end result was predictably as described in most of the literature, I had read on eating snapping turtle, with different parts of the turtle having unique tastes. Perhaps my favorite was the white, rubbery neck meat with a texture and taste similar to lobster. Also, the dark leg meat was what you would expect were it possible to combine beef with chicken . . . Bicken perhaps? 

All in all an enjoyable eating experience, albeit a tough sell among the rest of the tribe. While everyone was willing to “try” a small morsel of the final meal, few were wiling to make the commitment to fill their plate with this delectable. It appeared that, try as I might, some of the preconceived notions and ideals about what food should look and taste like were difficult for some individuals to overcome. In the land of plenty, the snapping turtle has no worry about becoming extinct due to overharvesting.

Preserving the Turtle Shells
The shells of the two turtles we harvested were gorgeous. In order to preserve them correctly, a fair amount of work had to be done to make sure that the connective cartilage between the turtles plates did not decompose and cause the shell to crumble. Of prime importance was the removal from the shell of all flesh. This was done initially during the cleaning process and repeated in more details once the shell were allowed to dry in the sun for a few days. The beef jerky texture of the flesh that remained was easy to scrape out of the shells with a sharp knife. Next the shells were washed in soap and scrubbed with Comet cleaner to help remove the dried on algae. If we had things to do over again this step would have been done before the drying as the algae would have been easier to remove. Lastly, the shells were again set aside to dry and we dusted a good heap of Borax into each. After about a week of drying in a cool dry spot the shells were ready to begin accepting their coats of lacquer. About 8 coats provided a beautiful “wet” look to the shells and preserved them for future mounting on the wall of the man cave.

More on Preserving a Turtle Shell