Fiddleheads in no danger
To the editor:
Troy Haines of Mapleton as reported in a May 6, 2016 BDN article wants to start harvesting fiddleheads commercially while protecting the overharvesting of such a tasty dish that so many have come to enjoy. But to become a picker, people must attend classes to learn how.
These classes will teach them how to keep foreign material from getting into their containers. How long will it be before more want to join in commercial harvesting of fiddleheads further endangering the possibility of ruining fiddlehead beds?
This is about the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. If this comes to pass, then the first thing that must happen is for laws to be passed to protect the fiddlehead from being overharvested, such as a written permit with the picker’s name on it and how much the picker is allowed to pick. Who will be responsible for this? The picker, of course.
Who is going to enforce these laws? The fiddlehead warden, of course. They must be hired, trained and paid. How many would be needed? A large number would be needed to patrol all of the fiddlehead areas in Aroostook County if they are going to be effective.
How do people come up with such ideas? They must have too much free time on their hands. I say take this idea and throw it in the wastebasket before it goes any further. Things have worked well for so many years the way they are, so why throw a wrench into things now?
Robert Beaulieu
Mapleton
