October 20,Meeting
Pitkin Community Center 6:30-9pm
30 Greenfield Street
Wethersfield, CT 06109
Matt Devine will be our speaker for the October meeting.
His program will feature our CT Broodstock Atlantic Salmon
Each fall the Fisheries Division (FD) stocks hatchery-raised adult Atlantic Salmon into the Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers for recreational fishing opportunities. This program is unique, and the fish are highly sought-after, making this a popular fishery, and one that will test even the most seasoned anglers. The FD aims to maximize the return-to-creel and angler satisfaction, however, data about where these salmon go after being stocked and how often, where, and when they are caught by anglers is lacking. Without this information, optimizing the timing, frequency, and location of salmon stocking remains a challenge. In this talk, Matt will discuss results from an angler tag-return study conducted in 2024 that investigated post-stocking movement patterns, variables influencing movement, tag return rates, and angler participation. He will discuss the management implications, next steps for the study, and would like to hear from you!
Matt has over 14 years of experience sampling, studying, and enhancing cold and warmwater fisheries. He has worked for state and federal agencies as well as non-governmental organizations specializing in fisheries conservation. After receiving his BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Redlands (CA), Matt’s fisheries career began in Litchfield,Connecticut as a Seasonal Resource Assistant for the CTDEEP Fisheries Division crew. In 2009 Matt scratched his itch to move to the Northern Rockies. Matt held positions with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, USGS (Wyoming), and Friends of the Teton River (Idaho), and spent the off seasons on the Snake River raft guiding and winters working at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Matt returned to the Northeast and worked with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife before returning to school. He completed an MS in Fish and Wildlife Conservation Biology at UMass Amherst in 2015 and is currently wrapping up his PhD, also at UMass, where he is part of the Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Matt, originally from West Hartford, has seen the light and come full circle back to CTDEEP as a Coldwater Fisheries Biologist, and is working out of the Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough. His primary duties are coordinating statewide trout and salmon stocking, implementing the Division’s Wild Trout Management Plan, designing and conducting stream angler surveys, developing new angling access, and community outreach.
Matt is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting, fishing, snowboarding, searching for antlers, and spending time on and around rivers and streams with his wife Vanessa and now threeyoung boys Wyatt (8), Jamie (5), and Jesse (4 months). He currently lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.