Nova Scotia saw runs drop precipitously, and even disappear. An international effort to study the increased mortality rate was organized by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. In 2000 the numbers of Atlantic salmon dropped to very low levels in Newfoundland, Canada. In 2007 at least one sport fishing organization from Iceland and Scandinavia blamed less fish caught by recreational anglers on overfishing at sea, and thus created the North Atlantic Salmon Fund to buy commercial quotas in the Atlantic from commercial fishermen in an effort to preserve wild Salmo salar stocks. Possibly because of improvements in ocean feeding grounds, returns in 2008 were very positive. On the Penobscot River in Maine, returns were about 940 in 2007, and by mid-July 2008, the return was 1,938. Similar stories were reported in rivers from Newfoundland to Quebec. In 2011, more than 3,100 salmon returned to the Penobscot, the most since 1986, and nearly 200 ascended the Narraguagus River, up from the low two digits just a decade before. Recreational fishing of Atlantic salmon is now authorized in much of the US and Canada where it occurs in large numbers, but this is subject to regulations in many states or provinces which are designed to maintain the continuity of the species. Strict catch limits, catch and release practices and forced fly fishing are examples of those regulations. However, catch and release angling can be an additional stressor on Atlantic salmon populations, especially when its impacts are combined with the existing pressures of climate change, overfishing, and predation. Restoration efforts Around the North Atlantic, efforts to restore salmon to their native habitats are underway, with slow progress. Habitat restoration and protection are key to this process, but issues of excessive harvest and competition with farmed and escaped salmon are also primary considerations. In the Great Lakes, Atlantic salmon have been reintroduced, but the percentage of salmon reproducing naturally is very low. Most areas are re-stocked annually. Since the extirpation of Atlantic salmon from Lake Ontario in the late 19th century, the state of New York has stocked its adjoining rivers and tributaries, and in many cases does not allow active fishing. The province of Ontario started the Atlantic Salmon Restoration Program in 2006, which is one of the largest freshwater conservation programs in North America. It has since stocked Lake Ontario and surrounding tributaries with upwards of 6,000,000 young Atlantic salmon, with efforts