Spiel

You da "Tiger Man."

Commercial fishing creates Lake Erie stir July 6, 2010 JAMES PROFFITT / www.portclintonnewsherald.com PORT CLINTON -- Ask most Lake Erie anglers about commercial fishing and the nets they set on the lake, and they definitely have opinions. "I always wonder why they let then net perch that have eggs in them," said Ron Caswell, a Wellington man who has been fishing the shores of Lake Erie and the lake itself for almost half a century. Caswell said he's also concerned about commercial netters picking up walleye during the spawn. "I think they snag and catch a lot of walleye with eggs in them," Caswell said. But commercial fisherman Rich Stinson, who manages Port Clinton Fisheries, said although he and other netters in Ohio catch many perch and walleye, they keep only legal sized perch and no walleye. Stinson said every walleye is thrown back, right away. "Not a single one's kept," he said. But mostly, said Stinson, commercial fishermen keep sheephead, mullet, shad, catfish, white bass and white perch. "Most of the fish we catch people aren't even fishing for," he said. "They're considered trash fish." Stinson's boats, which dock on the Portage River, catch fish that end up on tables from coast to coast. "Gold carp, redhorse and bullhead are popular," he said. "A lot are sold to the oriental markets in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco." When asked if his crew members ever keep a few walleye, Stinson balked. "Cut your tongue out," he said emphatically. According to Stinson, most of the fish caught are iced whole and shipped out right away, especially whitefish. "Our Lake Erie whitefish they won't grind," said Stinson, going on to explain the that processors will grind whitefish for Lake Huron and Lake Superior to make ethnic Jewish foods because they're not as tender and tasty as those from Lake Erie. "Our fish are smoked whole." Stinson said by far, commercial fishermen in Ohio catch and sell more rough fish than yellow perch. "Ninety percent or more of our catch is rough fish," he said. But Mike Zawadski, an avid Lake Erie angler and Danbury Township resident, said he still doesn't feel good about commercial anglers on the lake. "It's an unfair advantage for the fishermen netting," he said. "I really think it takes away from the average fishermen." On the upside, Zawadski said, the the commercial angling does help keep the population of bottom feeders down. But, he said, the nets are a nuisance to boaters and anglers. "Especially at night," he said, "when it's pretty easy for boaters to get tangled in nets." Zawadski said getting caught in nets can get tricky. And Stinson agreed. "The nets are handmade," he said, "you can't buy them at Walmart." Stinson said a single vessel stuck in a net, which boaters free by cutting the net, can be expensive. And, he said, boaters can be billed for the costs, plus cited by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. That's why the commercial fishermen pull their nets around the holidays. "Typically we pull the nets for the heavy traffic," Stinson said. Ohio Department of Natural resources biologist Mike Tyson said commercial fishing on Lake Erie is tightly controlled, including when yellow perch can be caught. "Yellow perch can be caught May through December," said Tyson, adding there are restrictions on locations. "Some restrictions are seasonal, others are permanent." Tyson said quotas are set for commercial fishermen based on scientist's observations. And there are no quotas on rough fish. According to Stinson, less than 10 percent of his catch is yellow perch. And Zawadski said that's good. "I'm alright with that, especially the bottom-feeding fish," he said. "We spend a lot of money on bait and fuel."

Misgivings about manure July 8, 2010 Tom Spears / www.ottawacitizen.com When I started writing stories about Great Lakes ecology in the late 1980s, an activist said something that sounded profound. Thinking back to the earlier, algae-choked days on Lake Erie, she said: "Today there's less sewage, but more poison." By poison, she meant synthetic chemicals with long, unpronounceable names, known by their initials (DDT, PCBs) or short forms (dioxin). Some were pesticides, and some were just accidental byproducts of industry, the stuff people used to dump anywhere without understanding the harm. Today the picture is changing again. Those synthetic chemicals do last a long time, but we've stopped manufacturing and dumping most of them. No one makes mirex or PCBs today. Eventually the chemical residues will break down. What we do produce in enormous quantities is manure. Federal figures show that Ontario and Quebec together produce manure equivalent to the sewage from 100 million people. It is sprayed, mixed with water, on fields near the Great Lakes, especially lakes Huron and Erie, and the smaller St. Clair. I've been uncomfortable with this for some time. Then a few weeks ago, the environmental commissioner for Ontario came to Ottawa. Gord Miller dropped in to the Citizen for a chat and mentioned that he had just given a speech to a conference on fresh water in Bracebridge, the heart of the Muskoka region. Miller argued in his speech that the biggest threat to Ontario's water isn't toxic waste. It's manure. Manure is called "nutrients" in official circles, but in reality it's foul-smelling brown stuff, especially the manure from factory farms that is kept in huge vats, fermenting a bit, and sprayed on fields in spring and fall. (And sometimes winter. They shouldn't do this because it runs off frozen land in spring into lakes and rivers, but people sometimes do it anyway.) For years we've been told E. coli and other pathogenic material in fresh water comes from both farm animals and from humans, the implication that both groups are equally part of the problem. But a recent study of Lake Huron looked at the DNA of E. coli. It shows that only about one to three per cent of the lake's E. coli come from humans -- and about 60 per cent comes from livestock manure. The rest is either unknown or from wildlife. So human sewage isn't the problem. The problem is the spraying of more animal manure than the land can soak up. If you wonder why we haven't heard more about this, Miller had an answer for that too. The Great Lakes have wave action that keeps such pollution close to shore, where people swim. But until very recently, Miller says, surveys of lake water quality were done by boats that are too big to approach shore. They've been sampling farther out, in deep water that's cleaner -- and missing the true picture. Luckily the commish is on top of this. He says sampling procedures have improved. We do hope his next survey of Ontario's environmental health tells everyone what's been happening. And yet Canadian and U.S. pollution regulations still focus on the enemies of the 1970s, the remnants of days when the chemical factories dumped waste material in a shallow hole out back, near the local river or lake. That's yesterday's problem. It's time to focus on the real, Walkerton-style pollution. There's less poison today, but more animal sewage. This problem appears to threaten more than our waterways. At Newcastle University in England, scientists have been measuring how natural bacteria change over time. In farm soil, they've found something odd: soil bacteria are showing genetic signs of resistance to a variety of antibiotics. Professor David Graham, who led the research, said the findings suggest an emerging threat to public and environmental health. Graham's point is that drug resistance in infectious disease bugs is a known threat. It most often takes the form of "superbugs" that infect people, often in hospitals. A common one is MRSA, a staphylococcus bug that resists the drug methicillin. We know that hot spots of drug-resistance in soil bacteria are often near hog farms. Pigs get antibiotics in their food regularly, sick or not, and the drugs are flushed out with the manure. In high volume, this is enough to change those soil bacteria. But then again, soil bacteria don't affect us directly, right? They help crops grow, and it doesn't matter, does it, whether they can resist antibiotics? Turns out these bugs may affect us after all. Back at Newcastle, Graham points out that harmless soil bacteria could pass on a resistant gene to a disease-causing pathogen, such as MRSA, with obvious consequences. (Bacteria are weird; they borrow genes from each other, and from their hosts.) Manure, anyone? Read more: http://www.ottawacit...l#ixzz0tC4TRD8v

Great Lakes lawmakers act to stop Asian carp July 1, 2010 Jim Lynch / www.detnews.com Legislation introduced Wednesday by Great Lakes lawmakers seeks to do what federal agencies have been unwilling to do so far in the battle against the invasive Asian carp -- create a permanent barrier between the waters where the fish is present and Lake Michigan. The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act would compel the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to "expedite" a study outlining the best means of separating the Mississippi River basin and Great Lakes. The proposal comes more than a week after a single bighead Asian carp was discovered in Chicago's Lake Calumet, six miles past an electric barrier designed to stop the fish. Since that discovery, many groups have expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. government's response, particularly that of the Army Corps. In the past 12 months, many elected officials of Great Lakes states have called for closing the shipping locks that connect the Illinois River to Lake Michigan, but Chicago representatives, businesses and Corps officials have balked at the idea. "We should be closing the locks because we should be doing everything humanly possible," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, in a conference call Wednesday. "I understand it's more complicated in the Chicago area, but the threat from the Asian carp outweighs any other issues." In a statement released Wednesday, Illinois Manufacturers' Association Vice President Mark Denzler discounted the need for immediate action. "The simple response to a request for the 'best way' to sever the essential waterway connection is it doesn't exist," he said. "Hydrologic separation would reverse over 150 years of commercial activity and devastate the regional economy." Stabenow also said the bill would address concerns that carp could reach Lake Erie in large numbers via the Wabash River near Fort Wayne, Ind.. Environmental groups in Canada have thrown their weight behind efforts to force quicker action from the U.S. government. Organizations such as the nonprofit environmental law group Ecojustice have joined Environmental Defence Canada and Great Lakes United to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the secretary of state to consider Canadian interests in all matters dealing with the Asian carp as well. Mary Muter, the baykeeper for Georgian Bay on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, said the U.S. response to the Asian carp threat has been "totally inadequate." "One of the reasons we're doing this is to force the EPA to hold public hearings on the matters so that Canada's risk assessment for these carp can become part of the public record," she said. "We've heard U.S. agencies say they're not sure Asian carp can survive in the Great Lakes. ... Well, our Department of Fisheries and Oceans' carp assessment does not agree with that."

No comment.......

I have done a fair bit of business through this board. Mostly out going in the form of custom rods and rod repairs along with a few miscellaneous items I've sold through the classifieds. Each and every person that has come into my home would be welcome back any time for any reason. In fact some of these people have become very good friends. People I would likely (certainly) have never met if it were not for OFC!

Hot diggity damn! I was just looking at the long range forecast and it would seem Sunday is my best bet for getting my little tinny out there. *fingers crossed*

I agree and if my buddy had any roasts or steaks he would have gladly offered them. In fact I have received moose and venison roasts/steaks from him in the past without having to trade anything. You've already fed me the venison Bernie so I guess I owe you.

Actually Brian to clarify my previous comment, I actually have that 30 year old knot tied to about 4 feet of heavy chain, the chain of course being connected to the anchor.

Nicely done Bernie, looks like the makings of some fine eating there.

I tied my anchor on with this knot some 30 years ago, still holding. http://www.netknots.com/html/anchor_bend.html

Thanks Brian, always nice to find it's an easy fix.

Hey I ain't no smuggler. Yep. Well I had it Art, took three nights for my son and I to eat it all, but it's now gone.

Oh I'm just wondering (if I may) what was the problem?

This is not new "News" (sadly) and OPG doesn't have an exclusive on this. Unfortunately this problem appears to be a problem all around the Great Lakes and not just with Hydro production but also with companies that use lake water for cooling operations. Imagine the numbers of fish lost? http://www.ofncommun...showtopic=44812

I have an aquaintace who fishes the lake often, best advice I can give you if you get out is....night time!

Well Brian has been a long time member here, right back to the forums humble beginnings and one of the first guys I ever met through this forum. Was then, is now and will likely always be one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree with me. Hat's off to you Brian.

Nicely done Dan (and Loyd), tough to beat a good and productive outing with the family. I'm guessing your smoker is gonna be smok'n for a while.

Mmmmm, mmmmm. It was really, I mean really good. Three big slices left.

Very nice indeed Cliff, I'll take them Brookies over ole marble eyes any day.

I agree whole heartedly, I rip weeds often with my assortment of Bombers and have never had an issue. But if this is a common issue with the newer product I may need to consider auctioning off my old stock to the highest bidder.

Solid advice Brian, thanks for taking the time. Only thing I would add is "cable steer."

"The start of my Northern trip" Wait a minute Ron, I thought the trip started with a phone call here to say hi to the Plummas while doing a drive by razzing at one of your buddies homes.

As some of you may know I was out on the big lake last Friday evening with a few small fish boated. Thread here.... http://www.ofncommun...showtopic=45085 Prior to the trip a good friend had asked me to keep any trout/salmon boated under 4lbs for him as he wanted to throw some on the BBQ. "No problem" I said, if I get 'em they're yours. I mean how could I not considering he sent me up to Lakair with several pounds of ground moose meat which ended up in a great chilli courtesy of Joey and ChrisK. Anyhow the gist of it is he came to pick up the fish this past Saturday morning (2 bows and 2 shakers) and handed me another 4/5lbs of ground moose meat. Tonight my son and I are dining on moose meatloaf. Just finished putting it together with some tasting fixin's and the last of the farm fresh eggs courtesy of the Plumma brothers. Mmmmmmm, moose. Good trade I'd say!