ESPN

ARIZONA

Arizona Game and Fish Department (GFD) biologists are conducting a study at Lake Pleasant using the newest leading edge technology to find out the effects striped bass are having on the very popular sportfish community. Striped bass invaded Lake Pleasant via the Central Arizona Project, or CAP, canal system. The concern now is that the striped bass may compete with other sportfish in the lake, such as largemouth and white bass, for their main food source, which is threadfin shad. The GFD has embarked on an intensive three year evaluation of Lake Pleasant to determine if the growing striped bass population is indeed a cause for concern, and to identify ways to properly manage the reservoir so the striped bass population can coexist with other predators in the lake. Last month, biologists began gill netting and electrofishing surveys to get information on the lake's fish populations, such as their diets, ages, and size. In order to identify if striped bass are reproducing in Lake Pleasant, biologists will sample for larval fish and fish eggs using light traps and net tows. Early next year the GFD will begin the process of estimating predator and prey fish population sizes using hydroacoustics. This procedure uses sound energy that is sent through the water. When the sound hits an object with a different density from that of the water, such as the air bladder of a fish, the sound is reflected back. This is a very high-tech way for biologists to estimate the numbers and sizes of fish. Biologists will also begin early next year implanting radio tags in the abdomen of striped bass to determine seasonal migration and spawning movements.

ARKANSAS

Members of the U.S. military who are mobilized for active duty will be allowed to hunt and fish in Arkansas free. Loren Hitchcock, deputy director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) explained: "We want to acknowledge and support the service of these sportsmen and the sacrifice made for our state and country. They'll just carry their environmental leave orders (furlough) along with their military ID while hunting or fishing."

IOWA

A newly constructed spillway has been built at Lake Wapello to stop the movement of carp upstream and into the lake — and just in the nick of time, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Bighead carp have already been found below the spillway in Pee Dee Creek, a tributary of Soap Creek, which empties into the Des Moines River. The DNR will be posting signs below the spillway at Lake Wapello, Red Rock and Rathbun announcing the presence of bighead carp. Signs instruct anglers not to release these exotic species once captured.

A massive habitat improvement project on the upper Mississippi River will remove years of siltation and offer fish a deep water sanctuary during the crucial winter months, according to the DNR. Mud Lake, in the lower portion of Pool 11 near Dubuque, will have 22 acres deepened to 6 to 8 feet, which will provide bass and bluegill with some badly needed wintering holes. Mud Lake is typical of many areas on the Mississippi River. Areas that were once good places to fish have been impacted by silt to the point that fishing has become almost nonexistent. The project, conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will use the dredge spoil to create a two-mile deflection embankment to protect the new habitat. The project will cost the federal government nearly $4 million. Last year, the Corps completed a similar project at Sunfish Lake on the Wisconsin side of the river. Another project is underway upstream at Guttenberg Harbor, immediately south of the DNR's fish hatchery. The project, primarily targeting angler access to river fishing, also would create handicap access to the riverfront.

MONTANA

The EPA has agreed to establish pollution limits for hundreds of "impaired" Montana rivers and lakes and to assess pollution in almost 500 more under an agreement announced with conservation groups. Five conservation groups, including Friends of the Wild Swan, American Wildlands, and the Montana Environmental Information Center, sued the EPA in 1997, saying the agency was not carrying out its responsibilities under the federal Clean Water Act. Specifically, the groups wanted the EPA to set maximum daily limits on the amounts of pollution allowed in hundreds of rivers and lakes around the state. The settlement means the EPA will have to speed up the pace with which it sets total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs. But the agency also gets a much-needed extension out of the settlement, as an earlier court ruling said the TMDLs would need to be set by 2007.

NEW YORK

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty announced that the proposed cleanup plan for Onondaga Lake is complete and is now available for public comment. The estimated cost to implement the plan is approximately $449 million. A remedial investigation to determine the nature and extent of contamination in Onondaga Lake was completed in 2002. The investigation found mercury contamination and presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) throughout the lake, with elevated concentrations detected in sediment in the Ninemile Creek Delta and in the sediment and wastes present in the southwestern portion of the lake. Most of the dredging will occur in the southwest portion of the lake. At its chemical production plants near Onondaga Lake, Allied-Signal Inc., now Honeywell, used or produced hazardous and nonhazardous substances since 1917. In June 1989, the state filed a legal action in U.S. District Court against Allied, seeking environmental remediation and natural resource damages stemming from the company's pollution of the Onondaga Lake system.

NORTH CAROLINA

Bob Curry of Raleigh has been named chief of the Division of Inland Fisheries for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC). Curry, 49, will be responsible for all statewide programs for habitat and fisheries management, biological research, regulations development, fish production and stocking, special programs, federal aid and budgets, and aquatic habitat conservation. Prior to his promotion, Curry served 10 years as fisheries program manager, where he developed and administered the division's budget, oversaw the state's six fish hatcheries, and managed outreach, research and survey, and development programs statewide. He replaces Fred Harris, who was recently named chief deputy director of the WRC.

Once a dry lakebed devoid of any aquatic creatures, Bass Lake now boasts more than 32,000 new occupants, thanks to the cooperative efforts of the Holly Springs Parks and Recreation Department and the WRC. Since July, personnel from the WRC's Division of Inland Fisheries have stocked the 85-acre impoundment with a variety of gamefish, including largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish and channel catfish. Stocking the fingerlings was one step in a multiphased, long-term initiative to restore the lake's fishery, which was destroyed in 1996 after floodwaters from Hurricane Fran blew out the dam. In 2002, the dam was rebuilt. While the fingerlings have helped the fishery, they won't attain keeper size for two or three years. In addition to fishing opportunities, Bass Lake Park, located in southwest Wake County, offers nature trails and an educational center designed to teach visitors about the diverse plants and wildlife native to the area.

The WRC is harnessing the power and flexibility of the internet to make it easier and quicker for the sporting public to register vessels and purchase hunting, fishing and trapping licenses. The Automated License and Vessel Information Network (ALVIN) were scheduled to go live at more than 1,100 wildlife service agent locations statewide Jan. 3. With a personal computer and a dial-up internet connection provided by the WRC, agents will be able to enter customer information into a "real-time" interactive database, which will link all customer transactions to a single customer record. This will eliminate redundant information gathering and, in the process, speed the transactions of multiple customer requests.

PENNSYLVANIA

By a 46-1 vote, the Pennsylvania Senate passed legislation that will increase operating revenues for the Commonwealth's fishing and boating programs. The measure (H.B. 2155) already passed the House and now goes to Gov. Edward Rendell for signature. If signed into law, the increase would have become effective Jan.1. The bill provides much-needed operating revenue for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) through modest increases in the fees charged for fishing licenses and boat registrations. H.B. 2155 also includes new forms of licenses and permits, including a Lake Erie stamp, a combo Lake Erie/Trout stamp and charter boat/fishing guide permits. The fee structure established in H.B. 2155 evolved from the input of the state's major sporting and boating organizations, including the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Pennsylvania Boating Association of Southeast PA, Pennsylvania Trout, Pennsylvania BASS Federation, Pennsylvania Boating Association of Southwest PA, Coalition of Concerned Anglers and Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania. Fishing license fees in Pennsylvania have not changed since 1996.

TENNESSEE

Milton Beard, owner of the Black Jack Ridge Dairy near the community of Santa Fe, Tenn., was indicted Nov. 4, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, on two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of violating the Clean Water Act. The indictment alleges that Beard used both a man-made pipe and a spray irrigation system to discharge waste from his dairy facility onto the grounds of his property. The wastes then allegedly flowed into Lick Creek, which empties into Duck River, a popular recreational fishery for waders and canoeists. The case was investigated by the Nashville office of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General, and the FBI, with the assistance of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

TEXAS

The board of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has voted to recommend acceptance of the Jasper County bid to host a new freshwater fish hatchery for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The Jasper County proposal was valued at approximately $28 million over 50 years, more than $4 million higher than the next-highest bidder. It offered the largest land area at 200 acres. It was also the only hatchery proposal that would require almost no water pumping, since water could be delivered primarily by gravity flow at reduced cost. The site topography is flat and suitable for hatchery ponds, and it will be cleared at no cost to the TPWD. Jasper County officials say a bass fishing tournament took place recently at a new pavilion near the site, attracting an estimated 18,000 visitors and competitors. The Jasper County proposal would locate the new hatchery near the Sam Rayburn Reservoir dam on property owned by Temple-Inland. The site is currently a managed forest logging operation.

CANADA

Canada's environment ministers are pressing ahead with plans for major reductions in mercury power plant emissions. Ministers say they'll cut mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 60 to 90 percent. But the reductions will require either substantial investments in new technology or the shutdown of existing plants. Canada has also asked the United States to reduce mercury pollution from its coal-fired plants. In addition, Ottawa is pressing for international action on mercury through the United Nations. Scientific concern about mercury has been rising, along with new evidence of the harm it can cause to populations dependent on fish. "Human exposure to mercury, primarily by eating contaminated fish, may cause neurological and developmental damage, particularly in fetal and adult nervous systems," says Environment Canada.

The Ontario government has refused to sign draft agreements that seek to preserve the Great Lakes, insisting the proposed deals are not strong enough to protect water from being siphoned out. Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced that the province would not sign the current drafts of the Great Lakes Charter Annex after they met with a cool reception with environmentalists and First Nations groups during public consultations in past months. While the proposed agreements between Ontario, Quebec, and the eight U.S. states bordering the Great Lakes would regulate water diversions, the minister said that Ontario will stick to current provincial legislation which outlaws water diversions altogether. The province would be willing to sign an agreement that followed a proposal of the International Joint Commission, mandating that 95 percent of water removed be returned in the same or better condition. It's not clear whether the parties will return to the talks, given Ontario's position, or whether the states will write an agreement of their own.

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