Post by Gsseagle on Oct 12, 2014 21:44:04 GMT -5
Since it slow on the board this time of year, though I'd bring up a couple of articles from the Pennsylvanis Outdoor News publication.
First was a comentary on the condition of the smallmouth bass in the lower Susquehanna river. Since 2006 scientists have been concerned that 27% of the young of that year have had lesions on them. In 2013 (last full year of study) was up to 50 percent. The study is on going for this year. "The suspects are many. Amoung them, nitrates asocciated with a variety of agricultual processes can suffocate fish and cause leasions and cross gender development of juvenile fish." "A report,"Wasting our Waters", lists companys dumping hazardous chemicals in the river, many of them with EPA and state permits!! Among them Cargell Meat Solutions Corp of Wyalusing,Pa reported dumping nearly 800 TONS of toxic chemicals in the upper Susky in 2012. Our state is ranked 7th in the nation, in allowing toxins to be dumped in our rivers. Don't forget this all dumps into the Cheasepeake bay.
The next depressing news is that the biologists have reported the lowest shad count at the Conowingo dam ever. The first fish lifted at the dam this year was not until April 24th, weeks later then usual. Of course the long cold winter, cooler water temps,and storms on april probably contributed to this. Total shad lifted for the year was 10,425 American Shad. That was the worst year since 1997 when a series of passages on the river began trying to get migrating shad up river. The Susky basin has traditionally been the largest Shad spawning grounds on the east coast. It is reported tens of millions of dollars has been spent on fish passages over the last 25 years to limited sucsess. This year, only 8 American Shad made it past all four dams.
Another alarming article is about the illegal poaching of striped bass on the Cheasepeake Bay, by the commercial fishermen. Terry Brady says many "target the bays off limit oyster sanctuarys, wink at its blue crab limits, and ignore seasons and regulations protecting the bread and butter fish (stipers) of what they do for a living". Seems they have discovered lines of illegal,anchored gill nets,that yielded tens of thousands of pounds of striped bass. Just last month a fella pleaded guilty and admitted that from 2007 to 2011 he assisted in a scheme to illegally poach hundreds of pounds of srtriped bass from the Chesepeake bay. The guilty party admitted to selling the illegaly harvested bass to wholeslaers in NY, PA, Delaware, and MD.
He faces a maximum penalty of 5 yrs in jail, and $250,000 fine. A picture in the article shows DNR officials inspecting a boat with many illegally taken bass, many of which were jumbo 20,30,& 40lb fish all prime breeding stock for the upcomming year. This is just one of many illegal poachers on the waters. They estimate the loss over the last 5 years at hundreds of thousands of pounds of bass. Of course, this may ultimately lead to reduced harvest limits for the honest anglers.
First was a comentary on the condition of the smallmouth bass in the lower Susquehanna river. Since 2006 scientists have been concerned that 27% of the young of that year have had lesions on them. In 2013 (last full year of study) was up to 50 percent. The study is on going for this year. "The suspects are many. Amoung them, nitrates asocciated with a variety of agricultual processes can suffocate fish and cause leasions and cross gender development of juvenile fish." "A report,"Wasting our Waters", lists companys dumping hazardous chemicals in the river, many of them with EPA and state permits!! Among them Cargell Meat Solutions Corp of Wyalusing,Pa reported dumping nearly 800 TONS of toxic chemicals in the upper Susky in 2012. Our state is ranked 7th in the nation, in allowing toxins to be dumped in our rivers. Don't forget this all dumps into the Cheasepeake bay.
The next depressing news is that the biologists have reported the lowest shad count at the Conowingo dam ever. The first fish lifted at the dam this year was not until April 24th, weeks later then usual. Of course the long cold winter, cooler water temps,and storms on april probably contributed to this. Total shad lifted for the year was 10,425 American Shad. That was the worst year since 1997 when a series of passages on the river began trying to get migrating shad up river. The Susky basin has traditionally been the largest Shad spawning grounds on the east coast. It is reported tens of millions of dollars has been spent on fish passages over the last 25 years to limited sucsess. This year, only 8 American Shad made it past all four dams.
Another alarming article is about the illegal poaching of striped bass on the Cheasepeake Bay, by the commercial fishermen. Terry Brady says many "target the bays off limit oyster sanctuarys, wink at its blue crab limits, and ignore seasons and regulations protecting the bread and butter fish (stipers) of what they do for a living". Seems they have discovered lines of illegal,anchored gill nets,that yielded tens of thousands of pounds of striped bass. Just last month a fella pleaded guilty and admitted that from 2007 to 2011 he assisted in a scheme to illegally poach hundreds of pounds of srtriped bass from the Chesepeake bay. The guilty party admitted to selling the illegaly harvested bass to wholeslaers in NY, PA, Delaware, and MD.
He faces a maximum penalty of 5 yrs in jail, and $250,000 fine. A picture in the article shows DNR officials inspecting a boat with many illegally taken bass, many of which were jumbo 20,30,& 40lb fish all prime breeding stock for the upcomming year. This is just one of many illegal poachers on the waters. They estimate the loss over the last 5 years at hundreds of thousands of pounds of bass. Of course, this may ultimately lead to reduced harvest limits for the honest anglers.